


The Raging Flood

by Morgan (morgan32)



Series: Journey's End [3]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-15
Updated: 2009-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 04:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgan32/pseuds/Morgan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xena sets out to punish Ares for the death of Hercules.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Retribution

**Author's Note:**

> "Nothing is soft as water. Yet who can withstand the raging flood?  
> Lao Ma The Debt
> 
> "Know when to stop. You can then endure."  
> Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Ares.

Time and again in her life it had come down to him. The darkly handsome, seductive God of War. When her home village was threatened he had given her strength…and then used her grief when Lyceus was killed to twist her heart and sword to his service. What a monster he had made in her! What an exquisite weapon.

Fed by bloodlust and hatred, the monster grew strong. Unstoppable, unbeatable. An encounter with a man even more dangerous than she almost cost Xena her life and robbed her of whatever gentleness she had left. Xena became the monster. And even Ares could not have controlled her. She pledged herself to vengeance, to death. In China a unique and powerful woman tried to purge Xena of the monster inside, but her hate was too strong to be cleansed by dreams of peace.

Back in Greece, leading an army, fuelled by desire, by madness, she conceived a simple plan to kill the demi-god whose life threatened her lust for power. Her failure drove her over the edge.

And then she came to know the man she had tried to kill. The mercy and courage and boundless compassion of Hercules broke the chains she had built around her heart, freed her to fight the monster inside…and to win. She had set herself on a new road, and although she had been tempted, although she'd made mistakes, Xena had believed that her monster was chained forever. Still there, deep inside, but chained, powerless.

Until now.

***

The Warrior Princess rode north from Athens, at a gallop, the racing rhythm of the horse's hooves beneath her matching her beating heart. A heart filled with fury, with grief, with a desperate need for revenge. Her eyes stared straight ahead as she rode. She saw nothing of the men and women who scattered from her path.

Her entire world was changed by the words she just heard. Gabrielle's tale, her song of mourning for a hero gone, told to an eager crowd. Gabrielle hadn't seen Xena there, waiting silently in the doorway while an audience sat spellbound with the bard's newest tale. But when the telling ended…oh, then their eyes had met, and the tears on Gabrielle's cheeks silently assured Xena that every word had been true.

Drowning in grief and shock, unable to speak, unable even to think, Xena had turned and walked away. Her fist was clenched so tightly that her nails drew blood from her palm. The pain, in her hand and in her heart, together with the familiar weight of her chakram at her side told her what to do. Ride. Ride for vengeance. Ride for _Justice_.

The sound of pursuit reached her ears: someone riding hard behind her. Xena reached for the chakram as she signalled her horse to slow, just a little. Enough for her pursuer to catch up with her, bringing his horse alongside. The chakram was in her hand. She prepared to throw…

"Xena! What are you doing?" The blond hunter drove his horse into hers, grabbing her reins and slowing them both down.

She had almost killed him. Chakram still in hand, Xena glared at the reckless man.

"What do you think you're doing?" Iolaus asked again.

As if he didn't know. "I'm going to find Ares," she hissed through clenched teeth, her piercing blue eyes filled with fire. "And I'm going to make him pay for what he's done." Oh, of course. Gabrielle had sent him. "Don't be a fool, Iolaus. Don't try to stop me."

The hunter's eyes narrowed. "You know I must."

Xena drew her sword. "I don't want to hurt you. But I will."

He was carrying his own sword. All in one motion, he drew the weapon from its sheath and jumped down from his horse, Xena's reins still griped in one hand. He looked up at her. "That might not be as easy as you think, Xena."

How _dare_ he try to stop her? Xena somersaulted out of her saddle and landed, sword ready, less than two feet away from him. Grief and rage burned in her blood. She attacked.

Iolaus was skilled, but he was no match for Xena, not now. Twice he parried her blows, the clash of steel echoing through the pass. Then she darted toward him, kicking out. He ducked to avoid it, but not quite fast enough: Iolaus took the blow squarely in his chest. As he fell, Xena struck viciously upwards. The sword flew from Iolaus' hand. She stood over him, reversed her sword and raised it, ready to strike.

"Xena!"

She hesitated.

"Is this really what you want to do?" Iolaus looked up past the blade of the sword poised above his heart. His eyes met hers without fear.

Xena blinked. Iolaus wasn't her enemy. Silently, she sheathed her sword and stalked away, back to her horse. Iolaus scrambled to his feet, ignoring his fallen weapon, and followed her. Just before she reached the horse, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him.

"Let it go, Xena," Iolaus ordered.

Tense as a drawn bowstring, Xena let her hand move toward her chakram again. "I can't!"

"Let it go," he repeated, begging. He was holding her by both arms. "By the gods, Xena, do you think I don't know how you feel? I love him, too."

It was exactly the right thing to say. The fight went out of her. Xena dropped her hand.

***

"I loved him, too," Iolaus said again. He felt the tension drain out of Xena. Then she pulled away from him. More slowly, now, she turned to the horse, lifting one hand to the saddle as if preparing to mount. And just stood there, still, quiet.

Iolaus watched her for several seconds before he realised she was crying. Silently, he stepped toward her, knowing she would not lash out this time. Gently he reached for her and she stepped into his arms. Xena was shaking, tears pouring down her face. Iolaus held her, sharing her pain, empathy the only comfort he had to offer.

Eventually, Xena moved away from him, wiping her eyes. She offered a weak, and slightly embarrassed smile. "Y'know, I haven't cried like that since I was a little girl," she said.

Iolaus smiled back. "Sometimes the heart needs to be soft," he answered.

That fetched a wider smile. "You sound just like Gabrielle."

Iolaus allowed himself to laugh, a release of tension as much as amusement. "Well, I've been married to her for seventeen years. Something was bound to rub off." He met her eyes with a firm gaze. "Come home with me, Xena."

Slowly, she nodded. "Alright. But I haven't changed my mind."

***

Iolaus walked ahead of Xena as they left their horses in the barn, waving to Gabrielle when he saw her in the farmhouse doorway.

"Iolaus…" Xena caught his arm.

"What?"

She was looking at a stain of blood on his shirt. Frowning, she moved the material aside, snapping, "Let me see," when Iolaus drew back. There was a flesh wound just below his collar bone. "Did I do that?" Xena asked apologetically.

"You didn't get _that_ close. I must have grazed it when you knocked me down." Iolaus tried to cover the injury before Gabrielle saw it. Too late.

"Were you two _fighting_?" Gabrielle asked, looking from one to the other incredulously.

Iolaus smiled ironically at Xena. "Yeah, I guess I got the warrior princess treatment." He was trying to make light of it, for Gabrielle's sake, but she knew Xena too well to be fooled. At his words she went white.

"It was pretty stupid: coming after me like that," Xena told him seriously.

No, he wasn't going to be allowed to laugh it off. As serious as Xena had been, Iolaus said, "Xena, I only know one way to deal with you when you're in that mood. We've been friends a long time…but I still remember the warrior princess."

_The warrior princess…who had turned him against his best friend, who had plotted his death and broken his heart._ A long time ago, but even now something neither of them was entirely comfortable remembering.

"Come on into the house," Gabrielle ordered. "I want to look at that wound."

Iolaus allowed her to lead him on, and Xena fell into step beside him. She was quiet, her eyebrows drawn together in a slight frown, her eyes distant, brooding.

"How did you get here so fast, Xena?" Iolaus asked her, another attempt to break her mood. "I didn't expect you'd have even got my message yet."

"You were looking in the wrong place," Xena told him. "I was on my way to Mycenae with my army. You missed me at Corinth by a day."

"You were going to Mycenae?" Iolaus repeated. "To fight on which side?"

Xena gave him a look. "Do you have to ask? If I'd been part of Ares' force, Iolaus, my army would have been at the battle. I tried, but we kept running into delays."

"Ares?"

"What else? Mostly it was the mess his armies left behind them: it made it difficult for my army to follow the same route. And we had to keep stopping to try and help the villages they raided."

Iolaus nodded understanding. He and Hercules had seen some of that destruction themselves.

Xena continued, "If we'd reached Mycenae before the battle…maybe…"

Iolaus stopped walking. "Xena." He waited until she looked at him. "Don't go there. I was at Mycenae. There was nothing even you could have done." Xena frowned, searching his face, looking, Iolaus guessed, for some sign he was lying, trying to pacify her.

"Believe me, Xena," Iolaus said firmly.

***

Iolaus would never have believed he'd make it as a farmer. When he'd made the decision, all those years ago, it had seemed like the only option he had, but he'd never expected to enjoy it. Over the years, he had found a peace in this life he would have thought impossible before: a home, a family. The simple joy of waking in the morning and knowing exactly where he was. Sure, it wasn't what you'd call exciting, and of course he missed his life of adventure with Hercules.

He had been forcibly reminded, though, several times, that he was by no means immortal. That his life of adventure was a shortcut to an early grave.

Iolaus and Gabrielle had made quite a success of their little farm. It wasn't wealthy, but it kept them fed and clothed. So if you added to that the occasional dinar brought in by Gabrielle's storytelling, they were more than comfortable.

Iolaus was forcing himself to think of the good in his life that night as he toured the farmstead before retiring for the night. It had been…gods, about two weeks since the battle of Mycenae. Was it really so long? Since everything in the world had been turned upside down by a single, impossible event: the death of Hercules.

_Stop it!_ he told himself firmly. Thinking about it would change nothing. _Doing_ something might, gods willing…

He closed the barn door and walked back to the house. A quick glance told him Gabrielle had stacked up the fire for him, enough to be sure it would burn all night. Making a final effort to shake off his depression, Iolaus joined his wife in their bedroom.

"What in Tartarus did you think you were doing?"

Neither the language nor the anger was typical of Gabrielle, and Iolaus stepped back in surprise as she rounded on him. "What did I do?" he asked her, honestly uncertain.

"I was trying to get Xena to give up this idea of getting revenge. Iolaus, what were you thinking to encourage her?"

_Oh, that._ Iolaus had been trying to stay out of the argument, well aware that Xena was not going to change her mind, and equally aware that Gabrielle wouldn't give up trying. Until something Xena said had caught his attention:

"You think this is about vengeance, Gabrielle? It's not. It's about Justice."

Justice. The single word had echoed through his mind until, following the train of thought, he had remembered that there was — just possibly — someone out there who could make what Xena wanted to do possible. An old…friend. It might well have been foolish of him to mention it, but he couldn't help himself: once there, the thought had to be voiced.

And now they were in private, Gabrielle was letting him know just how foolish she thought it was. Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

Iolaus sat down wearily on the bed, his back to Gabrielle. "You can't force Xena to change her mind, Gabrielle. She has to do it herself. Maybe, this way will give her space to think. To calm her down."

"Iolaus," Gabrielle snapped, "you can't _manipulate_ Xena!"

"She agreed, didn't she?" He was being unusually evasive.

Gabrielle walked around the bed and knelt on the ground in front of him, forcing Iolaus to look at her. "Tell me the truth," she said softly.

That quiet, determined voice he had never been able to refuse. Iolaus took both of her hands in his and met her gaze directly. "Alright. I think Xena has a point."

Gabrielle's eyes opened in shock.

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle. It's true." Iolaus wanted her to say something, argue with him, whatever. She was silent. "Mycenae wasn't just a war, love. Ares wasn't just stirring up chaos, he was making a bid for power. Think about it: Hercules was working with _Hera_! Do you realise what that means?"

"I know how hard that must have been for him," she began.

Iolaus shook his head, interrupting. "Not for Herc. For Hera. Can you even imagine how serious it must have been for her to ask Hercules for help? _I can't._"

Gabrielle turned her head away. She hadn't thought of it in quite that way before.

"I keep thinking about something Herc said," Iolaus went on. "That if Ares could be defeated in Mycenae, he would lose forever. I think…" He stopped speaking, not trusting his voice. The pain was still too fresh. "I think," he repeated eventually, "that's why Ares killed him."

Not speaking, Gabrielle pulled Iolaus into her embrace. It was going to take a lot longer than a couple of weeks for him to recover from this loss. If he ever did. Gabrielle had done everything she could to help and comfort him, but she was acutely aware that nothing could take away his grief. Not even revenge.

"Do you think," she said hesitantly, breaking a long silence, "that revenge will make you feel any better?"

"Not revenge. Justice." Iolaus spoke with conviction.

Gabrielle shook her head sadly, stroking his hair as he rested his head on her shoulder, grateful he wouldn't see the tears that sprang into her eyes.

Tears he couldn't see, but did sense. Iolaus pulled away from her slightly, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Did you get hit on the head at Mycenae, or something? You and your _justice_ will get my best friend killed!"

The words hit Iolaus like a blow.

Gabrielle turned away as he let her go. She already regretted what she'd said. How _could_ she? More softly, her own voice unsteady, Gabrielle finished what she'd been saying. "Leave justice to the gods, Iolaus."

"No." Iolaus turned her toward him, taking her face between his hands. "Listen to me. I went after Xena today because riding off the way she did, as angry as she was, she would have gotten killed, to no purpose. But if there's anyone on this earth who _can_ deal with Ares, if there's anyone capable of finishing what Hercules started, it's Xena. Think about that before you tell me I'm wrong."

***

Gabrielle was a very good bard. She told a story so well you could see it, almost as if you'd been there. Xena should have been there. But she had travelled too slowly. Instead all she had was the story, Gabrielle's voice, strong and clear in the Athenian tavern.

The images…

_A battle that lasted a whole day…a titanic clash between armies and gods. The dragon that appeared in the sky at the end. Hercules, who took on the dragon (just one more monster) and, with Iolaus' aid, he killed it, sealing Ares' defeat. The final act of the war, a poisoned arrow shot from an immortal's bow…_

In her dreams, Xena saw that scene over and over again. She saw it as it happened, the images vivid from Gabrielle's tale. Sometimes, she was there, part of the battle with her army, a helpless witness to that last, fatal shot. And once, it was she who wielded the bow, with the god of war smiling beside her.

_No!!_ Xena came awake suddenly, that last, terrible image still with her. _Tartarus! What have I done?_ Xena sat up in bed, her heart still pounding. _Just a dream, Xena,_ she told herself sternly. _A dream. Not real._

There was the barest rustle of someone moving in the darkness. Instantly, Xena was alert, her hand on the chakram she had left beside the bed.

"Who's there?"

"Xena?"

It was Leipephile. Xena sat up in bed. "Come here if you want to." She shifted over to make room for the girl. Girl? Gabrielle's daughter was only sixteen but after Mycenae she would no longer be a child. Xena mentally shoved her own memories to one side. Leipephile, normally a cheerful girl, seemed to be in the same sort of mourning as her parents. Xena hadn't thought beyond that: she was in shock herself. Now she realised she should have given Leipephile more thought. "C'mon. What's the trouble?"

"I couldn't sleep." Leipephile sat down beside Xena.

Xena leaned over and struck a flint to light the candle at her bedside. In its orange light she could see Leipephile. Her eyes were hollow from lack of sleep, her blonde curls tangled, the cloak around her shoulders askew. "For how long?" Xena asked.

Leipephile looked up long enough to meet Xena's eyes, but said nothing.

"Since the battle." Xena answered for her. She watched the girl nod slowly. She was obviously expecting a telling off. Xena opened her arms and Leipephile lay beside her, allowing Xena to hold her, just as she had when Leipephile was a child. "Tell me about it," Xena said. Gods, she loved this girl, couldn't love her more if she was her own child. In a way, she was exactly that, the child of Xena's spirit if not of her body.

Slowly, nervously, Leipephile began to speak of the battle. Xena listened, not interrupting. Leipephile had her mother's way with a tale, but Xena could have told it almost as well. One battle was much like another: bloody, brutal and destructive. Except, in this case, for the way it ended. But Leipephile never reached that part. She talked about pushing her way to her father's side when the dragon appeared above the battlefield. And Xena stopped her. Leipephile couldn't have talked much longer in any case. Her voice was shaking, her eyes full of determinedly unshed tears.

"What have I told you about picking up a sword?" Xena asked her.

"You have to be prepared to kill." Leipephile answered by rote, blinking back the tears.

"Were you?"

The young warrior's eyes flashed defiantly. "I did it, didn't I?"

Xena wasn't fooled. "Iolaus might let you get away with that," she told her pupil sternly, "but I expect a straight answer, Leipephile. Were you prepared to kill?"

Her head bowed. "I wasn't sure," she admitted. "Not until I saw the Prince killed. Then I just got angry and…" her words were cut off by sobs. "Oh, Xena! What did I do? Was I so wrong?"

Xena held her tightly as she cried. "Leipe…have you told your parents how you're feeling?"

Leipephile shook her head, angrily wiping the tears away. "Of course not! How can I? Gabrielle will say it's my own fault…and…"

"No, she won't," Xena assured her. "Gabrielle knows that sometimes it's necessary to fight, Leipe. What about Iolaus? Can't you talk to him?"

She shook her head again. "I don't want to worry him. Xena, have you seen the state Dad's in? He just lost his best friend."

***

Iolaus lay awake, staring into the darkness.

_Darkness filled with the flickering lights that were the campfires of an army. Hercules, more troubled than Iolaus had ever seen him, asking his friend for advice. Iolaus had told him "…the same thing you'd be saying, if it wasn't Hera we were talking about: do what's best for the greater good."_

_And because of that, Hercules had stayed, to fight in a battle not his own. _

_When the battle was over, there had been a tiny movement seen out of the corner of his eye, a premonition of danger, a warning shouted too late…_

Oh, gods, Hercules. What is the world going to do without you? What do _I_ do without you?

Gabrielle's voice, sleepy but clear. "You remember. And you endure. Until you join him in the Elysian Fields."

She reached out toward him, Iolaus turned to face her. "Did I say that aloud?"

"I heard you. Iolaus, you'll see him again. But I don't want it to be soon. _I_ need you here."

"I love you."

"I know."

***

A frown of concentration marred Gabrielle's features as she once more dipped her quill in ink and continued writing. She was almost at the end of this scroll. The images and sounds were so strong in her mind that they blocked out the real sounds around her. She didn't hear Xena quietly enter the room until she spoke.

"Always working on a new scroll?"

Gabrielle looked up sharply. She smiled. "Always." She dropped the quill and stood to greet Xena. "Sleep well?"

Xena shook her head. "No. Not really. Too many dreams, and then Leipephile woke me." Xena was dressed ready for travel, her sword and chakram carried in one hand.

"Leipe? Did she talk to you? I mean about Mycenae?"

"Yes, she did," Xena answered, her voice low. "Gabrielle, what was Iolaus thinking — to let her go into battle?"

Gabrielle shrugged. "That she'd take it even worse if she couldn't fight, I think. Xena, you know Leipe. Iolaus got her to promise to pull out if she was hurt. He thought that was the best he could do." She looked down, avoiding Xena's steady look. "I know what she must be feeling, Xena. I went through it all myself, remember? But Leipe won't talk to me."

"I know. She's not much of a talker, is she? That's one thing she didn't inherit from her parents."

Gabrielle smiled at that. "Did you help her, Xena?"

Xena nodded. "As far as I could. Gabrielle, it's going to take a long time. Would you mind some advice?"

Gabrielle spread her hands silently.

Xena took that as an invitation. "I think it might help her to spend some time with the Amazons. Leipe's got it into her head that she'd be asking too much to burden you with her problems, but she won't get over it until she can share it with someone. She needs to choose her own path. And you've both got to trust her to get it right without you."

"You want me to send her away?"

"Not send, allow. I dropped a hint to her last night. Let her think about it, and if she decides she wants to leave, don't try to stop her."

"Xena, it was trying to find her own path that took Leipe to Mycenae in the first place!"

"I know that." Xena could see Gabrielle was upset. Concerned, she sat herself down at the table, laying down her weapons and pulling out a chair to get Gabrielle to join her. She reached out to touch Gabrielle, gently on her arm. "Gabrielle, you can't protect Leipephile forever. If you try, you'll just end up hurting both of you." She spoke from experience.

Gabrielle stared at Xena for a few moments, the same memories on the minds of both women. Suddenly she reached for the scroll on the table, checking that the ink was dry and rolling it up. "I promised to make a copy for the academy," she muttered.

Xena knew she'd said the wrong thing. She let the silence drag out for a few moments, and adopted a much lighter tone. "So…do you know this mysterious person Iolaus thinks I should talk to?"

Gabrielle smiled, glad for the change of subject. "No, he didn't tell me. There's probably no mystery. Iolaus just likes to be the centre of attention."

Iolaus had made a mystery out of it simply because if he'd told Xena what he was thinking, she would have ridden off straight away, as she had from the tavern. Keeping the secret meant she had to take him along. Gabrielle knew he would have told her, had she asked, but she already had a good idea who Iolaus had been talking about. Someone he associated with justice, someone who knew the ways and the secrets of the gods… But for now, this was her last chance to talk Xena out of this destructive path.

"Xena," she began.

Xena shook her head, interrupting. "Don't say it, Gabrielle. You know I can't let this lie.

She wanted to argue. In bed at night she had thought of a thousand things she could say, surely one of them would turn Xena aside from this? But she didn't have time. Fighting back tears, again, Gabrielle looked straight into Xena's eyes. "I want you to promise me two things."

"Two? Getting greedy, aren't you?"

Gabrielle just looked at her steadily.

Xena sighed. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"Don't go back to your army. At least not until this is over, one way or another. Xena, I'm afraid that if you do — "

"I won't," Xena interrupted gently. "I promise. I never planned to. What I have to do, I'll do alone." She paused, aware that Gabrielle was hardly reassured by this. "What else?" she asked abruptly.

Gabrielle's answer was the last thing she expected.

***

The door was slightly open. Iolaus was just about to walk through it when he heard Gabrielle's voice.

"Promise me this won't be the last time I see you, Xena."

Silence. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back. Xena's measured steps across the tiles.

"Promise me, Xena," Gabrielle said firmly.

Iolaus pushed the door open. He knew Xena couldn't make that promise. Not if she was serious about going after Ares.

Ignoring, perhaps not even noticing, his presence, Gabrielle spoke again. "I love you, Xena. I can't stand to think of you dying for revenge. And don't give me that speech about justice. I know it's a lie, even if you don't." She had moved into Xena's path, forcing the warrior woman to look at her. "Now you promise me. Or I swear, Xena, I won't let you leave this house."

That should have been funny. The petite Gabrielle threatening Xena. But Gabrielle was very serious.

Xena stepped toward Gabrielle and gave her a big hug. "I promise, alright," she said softly. But as she spoke, she looked across the room and met Iolaus' eyes.

They both knew it was a promise she might not be able to keep.

***

"I promise I'll come home," Iolaus said, before Gabrielle could ask him. He kissed her, and felt her arms tight around him. She was really worried. Iolaus couldn't blame her. "I'll ride with Xena as far as Thebes, then I'll come home. I promise," he said again.

Gabrielle smiled mischievously. "I thought that was where you're going. Give Nemesis my regards."

Iolaus laughed. "I should have known you'd guess."

"I can read you like a scroll, Iolaus. Besides, when you seek the secrets of the gods, who better to ask than someone who used to be one of them?"


	2. Nemesis

There was nothing remarkable about the house. A small dwelling in a small village, a mile or two from Thebes. It was well kept, the yard swept, the plain walls whitewashed, wood neatly stacked beside the door. In fact, Xena realised, giving the house a second, more searching, look, it seemed deliberately understated, as if someone had gone to some trouble to make the place seem ordinary.

Xena's sharp eyes saw someone inside the house come near to the window as she and Iolaus came near, and saw the woman draw away quickly when she spied Xena watching.

Xena waited with their horses while Iolaus approached the house. The woman appeared in the doorway. Iolaus seemed unsure of his welcome, although they obviously knew each other. After a few moments, Iolaus led her to where Xena waited.

He got as far as, "Nemesis, this is…" before she interrupted him.

"Xena, warrior princess. We've met, although I don't think you'll remember."

Xena looked at her more closely. She was tall, though not quite Xena's height, with dark hair, lightly streaked with grey, a slender figure and a face that would be beautiful at any age. Xena didn't recognise her. "No, I'm sorry. I don't recall."

Nemesis smiled briefly. "It was in Arcadia, about a year before you first met Hercules. You, or rather your army, did me a favour."

Iolaus raised an eyebrow at that.

"I didn't think we were in the business of doing good deeds back then," Xena said dryly.

"It's not important. Please, come inside." She led the way into the house.

This was the moment Iolaus had been dreading. He had gone to a lot of trouble to keep Hercules' death a secret in the aftermath of the battle at Mycenae. The first the world had heard of it had been Gabrielle's story, told for the first time only two days before. It seemed unlikely that the news would have reached Nemesis' isolated village. Iolaus wasn't looking forward to being the one to tell her what had happened.

But as it turned out, it wasn't necessary.

"I know," Nemesis said quietly, when Iolaus tried to raise the subject. She was pouring water into three mugs, playing hostess, playing for time. She'd cut off Iolaus' words before he'd even mentioned Hercules' name.

"Nemesis…" Iolaus wondered if they were talking about the same thing.

"I know he's dead. I know it happened at Mycenae. I can figure out it has something to do with why you're here." Nemesis spoke flatly. Then her voice softened. "Iolaus…are _you_ alright?"

And that he hadn't expected. He shrugged. "About what you'd expect. Nemesis… how did you know?"

Nemesis gave a bitter smile. "Someone who took pleasure in how much the news would hurt me made sure I knew."

_But no one knew except…_ Iolaus almost voiced his objection, but caught himself in time. No _mortal_ had known. He had a good idea who had told Nemesis.

"So," Nemesis said, breaking the silence, "what is it you want from me?"

Iolaus and Xena exchanged a glance. With a gesture, Iolaus left the task to Xena. "I want," she said, "to make sure Ares pays for what he did."

Nemesis' eyes widened. "Ares has done many things in his life. He rarely pays for them," she evaded.

"I warned Ares a long time ago about going after the people I care about. I'm not about to let him get away with this one."

Nemesis nodded. "And what has that to do with me?" she asked softly.

Iolaus had to answer that one. "You were…close to Ares, once. To all of the gods. There has to be some way — "

"No!" She shook her head sharply. "Iolaus, even if I knew something, I couldn't tell you." She picked up the big water jug. Suddenly she had to get out of there. Nemesis mumbled something about getting more water and headed out of the room.

"_Close_ to Ares?" Xena repeated when the woman was out of earshot.

Iolaus nodded. "Not quite the way it sounds. Xena, she's scared. I need to find out why."

***

Nemesis hefted the big water jug and walked out to the stream. She knelt beside the water, holding the jug tightly as it filled. She understood why Iolaus had come to her, but she couldn't help him. She couldn't. Nemesis had been a goddess, once. She was made mortal as a punishment. It had taken her a long time to realise it, but mortality had turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. Even so, Nemesis knew, perhaps better than any other mortal, the consequences of defying the gods. She was, quite simply, afraid of what would happen if she revealed the secrets Iolaus and Xena sought.

"You shouldn't be afraid."

For a moment Nemesis thought Iolaus had followed her from the house. But the soft voice answering her thoughts wasn't his. She straightened, lifting the jug before her almost as a shield. "What are you doing here?" she asked, clearly not pleased.

"Tell them what they want to know."

Nemesis stared. "No way. I stopped working for you a long time ago."

"No one will know they learned it from you. You have my promise."

She shook her head. "And what's that worth?" Nemesis began to walk away.

She was stopped by a hand on her arm. "Nemesis…"

"Give me one good reason," she said defiantly.

"A reason? Try this: for the first time in seven hundred years, the king and the queen of the gods are on the same side." An amused smile. "Oh, you look surprised. It's true. But we dare not move against Ares directly. That would cause the war we are trying to prevent. I've been watching the warrior woman. She has it in her to succeed."

"What is it you want me to tell them?"

"What you know."

"And what's that? You're asking me to do your dirty work: at least give me a clue!"

"What is the difference," her visitor asked, "between the Titans and the Gods?"

Nemesis frowned. The answer to the question came easily to her: there was very little difference, beyond outward form, but the point seemed irrelevant. She opened her mouth to ask further, and…

"Nemesis! Let me help you with that."

Nemesis was startled and almost dropped the jug: she hadn't heard Iolaus approach. As Iolaus deftly caught it, she glanced back to where her divine visitor had stood. As she expected, she saw no one there now. Typical.

"Are you alright?" Iolaus asked her.

She wiped the irritation off her face and tried to smile. "I'm fine."

They began to walk back. "Nemesis, I think I owe you an apology. We shouldn't have come here."

_I wish you hadn't,_ she thought, but what she said was, "Yes, you should have. I owe you and Hercules both. I will help you if I can."

He gave her a quizzical look. "Who changed your mind?"

She shook her head, dismissing the question. Then suddenly, she realised how he'd phrased it. Not _what_ changed your mind. _Who._ "How did you know?" she asked with a sideways glance.

"I've seen that look on Hercules' face a few times."

***

"Tell me why the woman who killed Callisto needs help to destroy Ares."

Xena's startling blue eyes narrowed. "I don't want to destroy him," she said. "I want to humiliate him. 'Make him small', as they say in Ch'in." She wasn't looking at either of them. "I just want to see Ares pay for what he's done. I'd lock him up and put him on trial if I could. But somehow," she flashed a brief, cynical smile, "I can't see that happening."

"Maybe you can do exactly that," Nemesis said thoughtfully. "Lock him up, I mean." The riddle suddenly fell into place in her mind.

Xena considered the idea. "I don't think so. I managed to imprison Callisto, but she was new to her powers. Ares wouldn't be so easy to fool."

"I had in mind something more permanent that a rockslide," Nemesis told her and Xena leaned forward with interest. "What do you mean?"

"How much do you know about the war between the Titans and the Gods?"

Xena flashed a smile. "My best friend is a bard."

"What the bards don't tell is how close the final battle was. The gods don't like mortals to know that they almost lost. The Titans, like the gods, are immortal: they couldn't be killed, and there were many more of them than gods. In the end, the defeated Titans were imprisoned in a cavern."

"Turned to stone," Xena commented. "I know that cavern." Briefly, she told Nemesis — and Iolaus, although he surely knew the story — about the time Gabrielle had accidentally freed three of the Titans from their imprisonment.

"Did you ever wonder why Zeus made it possible for a mortal to free them?" Nemesis asked when Xena finished.

"No." Xena sounded surprised.

"One of the Titans, just one, refused to fight against the gods. Instead he worked with Hephaestus to devise a way to defeat the Titans, for the sake of humanity."

"You're talking about Prometheus," Iolaus put in.

"Yes. The key to everything they devised was its use by a mortal. Zeus and Hera felt that was too dangerous, because a weapon effective against the Titans could possibly be turned on the gods. Two of Hephaestus' weapons were rejected before the gods settled on the chants that Gabrielle discovered."

"What's the point of this story?" Xena asked.

But Iolaus had heard the point. "A weapon devised for use against the Titans could be used against the gods."

"Then there is something?"

Nemesis nodded. "Whatever happens, you didn't hear this from me, understand?" Her dark eyes bored into both Xena and Iolaus. She waited for both of them to promise.

"The thing I'm thinking of is…the easiest way to describe it is like a lock and key. You bring them together to activate the power." Nemesis held up a hand, stopping whatever question Xena was about to ask. "Just how important is this to you, Xena? What are you willing to give?"

It was a familiar question. Xena answered honestly. "It's the most important thing there is. And I'll give my life, if necessary. Just as long as I can see this done." Her blue eyes were hard and cold as ice.

"Your life," Nemesis repeated. "No, that's too easy. _Dying_ is easy. This is like Pandora's box: once you open it there's no going back. Are you willing to risk that?"

The words sent a chill through Iolaus. "Xena," he began, for the first time, uncertain.

But Xena didn't hesitate. "I'm not willing to risk the world. For myself, though…whatever it takes," she said firmly.

Slowly, Nemesis nodded. "Then I'll tell you where to find it. The rest is up to you." She took a deep breath. "The key will be in the Cave of Hephaestus, under Vulcan mountain."

"Gods, not there again," Xena muttered.

"Again?"

"I went there to get the sword we used to free Prometheus," Xena explained. "The place was in a bit of a mess when I left."

Nemesis laughed suddenly. "Oh, Hephaestus will have tidied up. He won't leave his toys unprotected. At least you'll know what to expect."

"Oh, yeah." Xena remembered the cave well: it had been filled with tricks and traps to prevent anyone stealing the treasures the cave held. "That's the key. Where's the lock?"

"After the Titan war, Ares claimed it from Hephaestus. Since it was technically a weapon of war, and since Hephaestus still had the key, he let Ares have it. It's beneath one of his temples."

"Which one?"

"Near the border of Thrace. It's about half a day's travel east of Pella."

Xena heard what she said, but almost didn't believe it. _Of all the places…_ "You're kidding!" she said, unable to stop herself.

"What's the matter?" Iolaus asked her. "You know the place?"

"Know it?" Xena suddenly felt profoundly uncomfortable. "That's where it all began for me, years ago."

***

_Fire and smoke. A woman screamed as a masked warrior ran her through with a sword. Her limp body fell at Xena's feet, her final scream imprinted forever on her features. Xena stared up into the masked face of the warrior, staring into the eyes of death. He raised his bloody sword to kill her, too. Xena did the only thing she could think of: grabbed a hunk of wood from the burning house at her back and threw it, not at the man, but at the horse._

_The horse reared, a scream of pain coming from its mouth. She hadn't known horses could scream. The rider was thrown from its back, shouting a curse._

_As the horse came down, Xena grabbed its reins and dragged herself inelegantly into the saddle. She kicked the horse hard and it began to gallop. Xena hung on for dear life, her heart pounding with a terror she had never known. One thought filled her: **They'll be coming to Amphipolis next!**_

_Who were they? The warriors had swept down on the unsuspecting village as if they'd appeared from Hades itself. No warning. Masked men who delighted in slaughter. Were they even men at all? Could those masks conceal some unknown horror worse than she had seen?_

_Somehow, Xena made it home. Her scorched clothing and the lathered horse told their own tale of battle. Cyrene wanted her to rest, but Xena knew there was no time. They had, at most, a day to prepare. To build some sort of defence for the village, to gather what weapons they could find or make. _

_Opposition came from an unexpected source: her brother, Toris, who heard Xena's story and told them they should run, abandon Amphipolis to the raiders, save themselves while they could. _

_**Abandon Amphipolis?** No! Never. If they ran now, they'd be running forever. But Toris was older than Xena, and he was a man. His words began to sway the others to his point of view. In front of them all, she argued with her brother, bitterly, speaking to him, but directing her words to those listening. She spoke with all the passion that would one day make her such a magnetic leader. They listened. Her words set them on fire. Lyceus was the first to declare for her side. Others followed. Toris, in anger and injured pride and in fear, left them to their fate._

_The villagers pulled together. Under the leadership of this untried girl, they marshalled the defences of their tiny town. At dawn, when the masked raiders attacked, they fought back. Xena, a borrowed sword in her hand, fought as hard as the rest, with a strength she had never known she possessed. She was fighting for her home. She killed one of the raiders single-handed. And discovered they at least died like men._

_Amphipolis won. They drove the raiders off, but at a great cost. Much of the village was destroyed. So many buildings razed. The fields would take months to recover. And lives had been lost. Worst of all, Lyceus, Xena's younger brother and her closest friend, was one of those who never saw the noon of that day._

_The villagers were jubilant. Xena felt only the loss. Grief and guilt tore at her heart, and none could offer comfort. She rode out of Amphipolis into the sunset. She should have been crying. But that would have been hypocrisy. She had caused Lyceus' death. Is an executioner allowed to mourn? _

_She rode as if she could somehow outpace the flood of pain that drowned her soul. Into the dying sun she rode, toward a sky red as blood. Her brother's blood, now on her own hands. Blindly she rode, drawn, though she didn't realise it, to one inevitable destination._

_It was dark when she came to the building, and she was tired, so very tired. Hardly knowing what she was doing, she left the horse untethered outside and walked up the steps and through the invitingly open doors. Her footsteps echoed in the vastness. Torchlight cast long, dancing shadows on the walls. Except for Xena's footsteps and her breathing, the place was silent as the grave. And then she saw the altar. _

_She was in a temple?_

_A dim memory of her mother's voice, warning her always to show respect for the gods. An admonition Xena had always obeyed. But not tonight._

_"The gods!" she raged to the unfeeling temple walls. "Where are you when we need you? Why don't you help us?" Courage born of desperation, defiance born of overwhelming loss. _

_"But I did. I did help you today, Xena."_

_It was a male voice, but it belonged to no man. She looked all around her, straining to see the speaker, but there was no sign of anyone. "Who are you?" she demanded, determined not to show fear._

_The voice came again, from all around her, smooth, hypnotic. "I gave you your victory today. I am Ares, god of war. And I am your destiny, Xena."_

***

"I guess this is where we part company," Iolaus said, as they both drew up their horses at the crossroads. This road would take Iolaus to Athens; in less than an hour he'd be home. Xena's journey…well, only the gods knew where that might take her. "You could still come home with me, Xena," he offered.

Xena met his gaze firmly. "I can't."

Iolaus said nothing. This could be the last time he'd see her…gods, he didn't want to lose her as well. But he knew better than to try to change Xena's mind once it was made up.

She seemed to know what he was thinking. "Iolaus, I made a promise, remember? I'll have to pass this way on my way to Pella anyway. I'll call in at the farm them."

_If you survive,_ Iolaus thought, but didn't say it. He leaned forward in the saddle, offering Xena his hand. She took it. As each grasped the other's wrist, words rose automatically to Iolaus' lips: "Be safe, Xena." Remembered words, not his own.

She frowned slightly as she released him. And then, without another word, she turned her horse and galloped away.

_Be safe, Xena._ He repeated the words in his mind as he watched her go.

***

_Hephaestus won't leave his toys unprotected…Don't forget that he's a god. He'll know you're there, Xena._

"Well, I've fought gods before," Xena said aloud, looking into the dark cavern. "I can fight one more if I have to." Resolutely, she walked in.

The narrow entrance opened into a large, high-ceilinged cave. Around the walls were a number of torches, otherwise the cave was empty. Ahead there was a single, open archway. On her previous visit to this place, searching for the sword she needed to free Prometheus, Xena had encountered all kinds of traps in the labyrinth that was through that archway. This time she was prepared for them. Xena took one of the torches and moved slowly through the maze, her eyes constantly seeking out the traps she knew were there. Not all would be as obvious as a tripwire; a loose stone might be a pressure point, or a crack in the ground could conceal a pit trap.

She became aware that the maze of passages wasn't leading her anywhere. When looking for the sword she had found it easily, perhaps too easily. She could only speculate about that...could it have been Hephaestus' small act of rebellion against Hera? Or, given that freeing Prometheus should have been a suicide mission, was Hercules supposed to find the sword? Either way, this wasn't going to be so easy.

On her second circuit of the labyrinth, Xena noticed one wall that was solid rock, not the cut stone that made up most of the walls. Cautiously, she examined the rough surface more closely. There was a fissure in the rock where it joined the stone-built wall: hidden in plain sight by the shadows cast from her torch. Clever. Carefully, Xena squeezed through. It was a tight fit: she had to push her weapons through ahead of her.

Once through the crack, she found herself in a new passageway, the roof just high enough for her to stand without stooping. The passageway sloped downward slightly; she followed it, all of her senses alert for possible danger. There was some kind of light ahead. The passageway began to widen. Xena kept going, cautiously. Then, abruptly, she stopped, looking around her in wonder.

She stood on a narrow ledge on the edge of a huge chasm. There was still a roof above her head: the rock relatively smooth. Opposite, there was another ledge, leading to another passageway: almost a mirror image of where she stood. The light was coming from the chasm: a mild glow of phosphorescence, enhanced by the torch she carried. Xena looked down into the gorge. Could this be some sort of illusion? She was within, or beneath, a mountain. Surely, if this chasm were real the mountain wouldn't be able to stand? Xena glanced around for something to throw, but there were no loose stones, and all she carried with her were her weapons and the torch. _C'mon, Xena,_ she reminded herself, _"impossible" doesn't mean much to the gods._

Best to proceed as if it is real, she decided. She stared across to the opposite ledge, trying to judge if she could jump the chasm. It seemed unwise. If she had a rope, or even a decent handhold… She looked up at the roof. No help there. Or was there? She reached up to touch the rock, holding the torch near her hand for extra light. The rock felt like sandstone: when she withdrew her hand some grains of rock stayed with her. The barest glimmer of an idea came to her, but she dismissed it. Xena stood there a few minutes more before realising that her only other option was to turn back.

Finally she decided to trust to luck. She'd done this before with a wooden roof, just never before with rock. Xena drew her sword from its sheath, moving as close to the edge as she dared and balancing her torch on the edge for safety. The torch she would have to leave behind. She gathered all the strength she had, and threw the sword, like a javelin, into the roof of the cave. Sparks flew. The sword was half-buried in the rock.

Next, Xena took the whip coiled at her side and, taking careful aim, cracked it toward the sword hilt. The crack echoed through the cavern. The tip of the whip wrapped around the hilt perfectly. Cautiously, Xena tugged, gently at first, then harder. It seemed like it might take her weight. Glancing down into the chasm, she took a deep breath. Then holding tight to the whip she launched herself into the air.

It seemed to take forever. Xena felt the cold air pass her as she swung across the chasm. Just as she reached the far side, she felt a jerk and heard the ominous scraping sound as her sword came loose from the rock, dragged out by her weight. Her feet felt solid ground beneath, but the sudden drop as the sword came loose overbalanced her. Instinctively she curled her body into a ball as she landed, rolling and springing to her feet safely. She turned, intending to retrieve her sword, and was forced to watch as it fell, slowly turning end over end, into the chasm.

Xena drew in a shuddering breath as she re-coiled her whip. If that was an illusion, it was a good one. And she had lost her sword. Well, she could mourn the loss later. At least she had survived. Shrugging inwardly, she continued on her way. This passageway was wider and taller. The ground beneath her feet was terribly uneven, with plenty of loose stones scattered around. She stepped as carefully as she could, only able to see shapes in the dim light.

_Click._ The sound was sudden and distinct. Xena froze, knowing she'd triggered something, but with no way, yet, to know what. Then she heard a whoosh from behind her, turned and saw the blade swinging toward her body. She avoided it the only way she could: by moving quickly further into the cave. She found herself running a gauntlet: spikes in the ground beneath her feet, blades scything across her path from each side, and no way to tell what lay ahead. Xena ducked and dived, twisted and leapt, moving ever forward. One blade passed so close she was sure it cut her hair. And then it stopped. Not completely: she could still hear the sounds of whatever mechanism she'd triggered, both behind her and ahead of her. But there was nothing in the place where she stood.

The apparent safety of her current position worried Xena. It couldn't possibly _be_ safe, could it?

A rattling sound reached her ears, and Xena looked up suddenly. There was a huge block of stone coming down on her!

The constant whoosh of the blades behind her made that route unattractive. She couldn't go forward either. With no time to make a decision, Xena did the only thing she could. She froze.

Xena didn't reason it out at the time, though later she realised it made sense. The labyrinth, the chasm, the gauntlet, these were tests, challenges. Each of them potentially fatal, certainly, but not inevitably so. If Hephaestus objected to her presence, he could have made the chasm impassable, or simply killed her where she stood. No, it made no sense that she could get this far, only to meet a different death. This was a test of a different kind.

The falling rock, large enough, heavy enough to crush her flat, stopped its descent inches from her skull. Xena stared up at it, her heart pounding. The constant whoosh of the swinging blades stopped dead. And then she heard the sound of slow applause.

"Well done, warrior." A man, robed and hooded, stood where a moment ago, she was certain, had been solid rock. "You have shown determination, in crossing the chasm. You have shown courage and skill, here. What do you seek?"

Xena, her heart-rate back under control, faced the man calmly. She didn't seem to have much choice but to answer. "I am looking for a key," she said.

"You seek revenge."

"I seek _justice_," she corrected.

"You seek to conquer."

"I seek to contain," she disagreed.

"You seek an ending."

"I'd call it a beginning."

He made no further comment, but moved away from her, beckoning with one gloved hand. Who in Hades was this man? He wasn't Hephaestus; at least, she didn't think so. Yet he didn't seem quite mortal, either. Whoever he was, he led Xena through a narrow passageway, and through a door at the end.

Xena blinked several times, shielding her eyes against the sudden increase in the light. When she could see again, she looked around in wonder. This was a cave of treasures. An open chest was filled to overflowing with gold. Weapons lined one wall: swords, shields, bows, spears. Weapons forged by Hephaestus himself. There were jewels of great beauty, structures of crystal and metal. And other things too; mechanisms so strange Xena could not even guess at their purpose. No wonder that this cave was so carefully protected.

"Choose carefully, warrior." The deep voice broke into her reverie. Xena stopped looking at the treasures in the cave and looked at him. He was standing quite still, his hands clasped in front of him. Obviously, she was meant to find the key without help.

She walked slowly around the room, her eyes taking in everything. There was no reason to expect the thing she sought to look like a key. It could be anything. She looked at her guide again. "I may choose anything?" she asked.

"You may choose as you wish."

And that odd phrasing gave her the clue. Trusting to luck or destiny, Xena turned her back on the many treasures of the room. "Then I choose to look elsewhere. What I seek is not here."

His mouth broke into a smile. "Well done again, warrior. Come." And he led her through a door which appeared in a section of blank wall.

"I'm tired of these games," Xena told him irritably.

"What you seek is no small thing, warrior." They entered a small room, barely more than an alcove. In the centre of the room, a single stone pillar supported a small chest. The man stood beside it, waiting. Tentatively, Xena lifted the lid of the chest. Inside, a collection of pale turquoise jewels glowed with their own inner light. It resembled a necklace: a ring of jewels held together by silver wire so delicate it looked as if it would break at a single touch. This was Hephaestus' work, however: that silver wire was stronger than camel-hair rope.

Xena lifted the ring out of the chest. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the key she sought. It was almost alive with power, she could feel it through her fingers. But possession of the key was only a part of it. How did it work?

"You hold the key that will open the Eye." The hooded man's voice answered her unspoken question. "They have been kept apart for a reason, warrior. It is no small power you hold. Merely bringing them together holds danger. When they touch, even the gods are vulnerable to what you will release."

"Good. That's the idea." Xena placed the key on her belt beside her chakram.

Now, she had to find her way out. She walked back through the cave of treasures without so much as a sideways glance. There had been a time in her life when the power promised by such treasures would have been a powerful temptation. Not now. On the other side of the cave, the gauntlet of swords was still. With care, Xena made her way back though it, but her caution was unnecessary: the mechanism that triggered the gauntlet was at the other end. Then she was on the ledge overlooking the chasm.

Here, Xena had to pause. She remembered watching her sword falling into the chasm and felt a chill. Without the sword she had no way to get back across. It was surely too far for her to jump. Xena let out a hiss of frustration. Was she to reach her goal only to be stopped by a challenge she had already passed? _No_. If this chasm had to be crossed she would do it. It wasn't as if she really had a choice.

She had a promise to keep to Gabrielle.

Xena checked that the key was secure next to her chakram. She took a few steps back. She drew a deep breath. Then she ran at the ledge and launched herself into the air.

It was an incredible leap. She somersaulted over the chasm in a high arc. She should never have made it. The chasm was too wide. Yet somehow, as she reached the zenith of her flight and began to fall, Xena felt herself lifted, like a bird of prey riding a thermal. The extra lift was just enough, and the far ledge was within reach as she began to come down.

She landed…just an inch short of the ledge. Xena scrabbled desperately for a handhold as she fell. She was hanging over the abyss by her fingertips. There was no foothold, nothing she could use to take the pressure off her fingers. She had no way to start climbing up. Xena's eyes were drawn down to the dark chasm that was about to claim her.

_Oh, Gabrielle, I'm sorry. I tried…_ She felt her fingers begin to slip.

And a strong hand grasped her wrist. Xena caught her breath, looking up into the face of a stranger as a second hand grabbed her other forearm and held on. It was enough. With that support, Xena was able to find a foothold in the cliff below. She started to climb up.

Dragging herself onto the ledge finally, Xena muttered, "I'm getting too old for this." She stared down into the chasm while she caught her breath and got her heartbeat under control. Only then did she turn to the person who had saved her.

It was a woman, though she wore men's clothing: leather trousers and a dusty white shirt. Her hair was about shoulder length, dark brown and curly, her eyes grey-blue. She wore a silver pendant around her neck: it was hidden beneath the shirt and Xena couldn't see it clearly. There was something familiar about her, but Xena was sure they had never met.

"Who the hell are you?" Xena demanded.

"You're welcome."

Xena realised how that must have sounded. "Thank you for saving my life," she said, a little sarcasm creeping into her voice. "Now…who are you?"

The woman offered her hand. "My name is Alani. Does that mean anything to you?"

Xena took the offered hand in a warrior's grip. In answer to the question, she shook her head: no.

Alani raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised. I thought Hercules or Iolaus would have mentioned me to you." She shrugged, dismissing the matter. "Well, I guess it's not important. Come on. Let's get out of here."


	3. The Key

When they emerged from the cave under Vulcan mountain, it was night. It surprised Xena to realise how long she had been under the mountain. That wasn't her major concern, however. Xena had a naturally suspicious nature, and Alani bothered her. The woman had saved her life. But she seemed to have no reason for doing so. She had volunteered nothing about herself: Xena had to ask her name. The casual reference to Hercules and Iolaus might mean something, but it was common knowledge in Greece that Xena was a friend to both of them: mentioning their names could easily be a trick to gain her trust.

The woman seemed to assume Xena wouldn't object to her company. It was in silence that she walked with Xena while the warrior reclaimed her horse. Xena went on a little further, to put some distance between herself and Vulcan Mountain, then made camp. Over the campfire, they talked.

"Are you going to tell me what you were doing in that cave?" Xena asked her.

Alani's hands were clasped in front of her chest. "I was sent there. Presumably to help you." As Xena's eyes narrowed, Alani added, "Look, I don't mean to sound mysterious. But that really is all I can tell you."

"Sent? By who?"

Alani reached inside her shirt and pulled out her pendant. It was highly polished and gleaming in the firelight. "I'm a priestess, Xena. I was sent by my goddess."

Xena looked sceptical, her eyes taking in Alani's clothing: not standard garb for a priestess. "You're no Hestian Virgin, that's for sure."

"No, I'm not. I realise I don't look the part of a priestess right now, but it is true. I was on my way to Athens when I was told to come here."

"Athens. That's where I'm headed." Xena had a feeling Alani already knew that.

If she did, she gave no sign of it. "Perhaps we could travel together."

"I travel alone."

"Xena, we both know that's not true."

"It is now."

"You don't trust me. Fine. I'm used to that. But if we're both going to the same place, you'll see me there anyway. Why not go together?"

"Athens is a big city."

"I'm talking about Iolaus' farm."

"You're going there? Why?" Xena was still suspicious.

"I just heard about Hercules." Alani looked down briefly, avoiding Xena's eyes, then met her gaze again. "I know Iolaus. He'll have found some way to blame himself. There's something I can tell him that will help." She frowned to herself. "I… I might be the last person he wants to see right now. But I've got to try."

Xena's gaze softened. "You talk like you're his friend. Why wouldn't he want to see you?"

A wry smile. "We…disagree about many things." Alani lifted her pedant and silently showed it to Xena. Xena examined it closely. There was no question it marked her as a priestess, but that didn't explain… Then Alani turned it over. The etched symbol on the reverse side was a stylised triple moon: )O(

"I see," Xena said.

***

_

"By Hera's crown!" someone shouted: a voice filled with fear that carried across the whole battlefield. In the sky above them, blocking the sun, its shadow spread across the ground like a cloak of death, Ares' dragon flew slowly toward the city of Mycenae.

Xena watched, her mind exulting. The dragon would wipe out whatever was left of Hera's pathetic army. Then she saw a spear fly out from the lines of that army: a spear thrown with more than mortal strength. It was closely followed by a second. The dragon screamed in pain and searched out its attacker.

Numbly, Xena watched Hercules battle the dragon. She saw it all: Iolaus' desperate attempts to distract the creature, Leipephile protecting her father, Hercules, on the dragon's back, hacking away at its neck. She saw the dragon die. Saw Hera's eyes hovering above her city, felt the goddess's victory cry.

Rage filled her. There was only one thing left. Xena accepted the bow and arrow handed to her. She took careful aim. In the same instant she loosed the arrow she saw and heard Hercules' annoying friend cry warning. But his warning played straight into her hands as the demigod turned. For an instant their eyes met and she saw recognition in his face. Then her arrow found his heart. She laughed. Hercules was dead, her revenge complete.

Beside her, Ares joined her laughter. "Well shot!" he congratulated her.

_

Xena woke, her mind screaming denial of the nightmare images. She stared into the darkness, her breath coming too quickly. Why? Why that same dream, over and over? She hadn't even been at the battle! _Just a dream. Not real_, she assured herself. Then why did it seem so real? Somehow, there was more to this than Gabrielle's tale.

Xena sighed heavily and turned over on her blankets, almost afraid to sleep again. She had lost so many people in her life. Lyceus. M'Lila. Solan. Lao Ma. Marcus.

…Marcus. There was someone she hadn't thought about in a long time. What had he told her? _"Whenever the living think of the dead, the dead can hear their thoughts."_ The words came back to her like a mantra, long ignored, never forgotten. It was comforting, somehow.

Hardly even aware of it, Xena drifted back into the arms of Morpheus…

_She leapt into the battle with a piercing warcry. Sword in had, she cut through the marauding warriors: these men who just a few day s ago she had commanded. She caught Hercules' eye as she fought: a moment, no more. Then, as the bodies piled up around her, she saw Darphus. _

_…The battle was over. Xena washed the blood from her hands. That was one army that would never slaughter innocents again. Turning around, she saw Hercules watching her._

_"I'm glad you came back," he said._

_She didn't understand this man. Twice she had tried to kill him, yet he spared her life. Why? "I had to come back. They had to be stopped."_

_Something in her answer surprised him, Xena could see it. "Is it over now?" he asked her. "All of it?"_

_She remembered what she had done to him, and to his friend. She remembered the villages she had destroyed as her army crossed the countryside. She remembered the gauntlet. And suddenly she realised that it **was** over. That the bloodlust that had ruled her heart since Caesar betrayed her and M'Lila died was gone. Gone so suddenly and completely that she hadn't even noticed. But he had._

_"Yes, it's over."_

_"So…what now?"_

_Xena looked up at him. The question scared her. For the first time in years, the future was her own. She had nothing driving her on, no army behind her. She was alone. Or…not quite alone. Hesitantly, she took the next step. "What do you say we find out together?" she asked him._

Xena turned over in her sleep. In the light of the campfire her cheeks glistened with tears. Tears held back by anger while she was awake. Even at night, her sword was within reach. Obeying some subconscious impulse, the sleeping warrior's hand reached out toward the hilt. In her dreams, she remembered another day, another sword…

"It should be me," Xena insisted.

Hercules looked at her, one of his hands firmly on the Sword of Hephaestus. "Why?"

He was being impossibly dense. "The world needs Hercules," she replied. To herself she could admit that her motives were more personal, but she didn't think he'd accept a personal argument.

"It needs Xena, too," Hercules told her.

"Oh, come on!" Xena protested. "People would hardly miss me." Except maybe Ares. And Gabrielle. And there are plenty of people out there who would celebrate the death of Xena. But if Hercules died…? "You give hope to so many."

He shook his head. "You underestimate yourself."

That was why she loved this man, because when he knew he was right, he wouldn't budge an inch, whether against a god, a warlord, or even his best friend. But to find that same determination turned against her was infuriating. "Hercules," she snapped, "you're not using your head."

But he even had an answer for that. "Sometimes in life you go with your heart, not your head."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can't let you die if I can do anything to stop it." He walked ahead of her, effectively closing the subject.

Xena watched him go, her heart a confused mixture of love and fear and grief. She was going to have to fight him. Because she felt exactly the same way. Xena had no wish to die. But one of them had to, and whatever happened, she couldn't let it be him.

The crazy thing, Xena realised, waking this time with the more pleasant memory on her mind, was that she'd proved Hercules right. When they'd teamed up to free Prometheus it had been soon after she had turned her life around, too soon for Xena to conceive of the difference she might make in the world. Now she could look back on the past twenty years with some pride, knowing that the good she'd achieved outweighed her mistakes.

But her feelings for Hercules hadn't changed. She would have given her life willingly to save his. She hadn't been allowed the chance.

Sighing heavily, Xena rose. There was a long way to go today if she was to reach Athens by nightfall. Her dreaming had given her a brief reprieve, but as she checked her pack and saw the gleaming, mysterious key amongst her belongings, she felt a renewed surge of black rage at Ares. Her lips settled into a thin line of determination. Ares would pay. She would deliver Justice. Like the tides, nothing would hold her back.

***

They came over the rise walking on opposite sides of the horse. The farmhouse looked like an oasis after hours on the road; they had skirted the city of Athens in the hope of reaching the farm in time for lunch. Xena quickened her pace a little as they approached. She noticed that, despite the woman's determination to come here, Alani seemed a little reluctant now they had arrived. Well, the mystery would be solved soon enough, she assumed.

They had almost reached the house before Iolaus saw them. He called to Gabrielle, telling her Xena was back, then hurried outside. Xena looked tired. With a chill of premonition Iolaus wondered if she had really considered the cost of what she wanted to do. He forced a smile of welcome as she met his eyes.

"Xena," he said warmly. "Find what you wanted?"

"Yes, I did." Xena's eyes moved past him to where Gabrielle stood in the doorway. "We can talk about this later, Iolaus."

He followed her gaze to Gabrielle and nodded, understanding. Then he saw Alani. Until that moment, he she had been hidden from his view by the horse. As Xena strode toward the house, she came forward to take the horse's reins. Iolaus recognised her. For a moment he couldn't find his voice. "Alani?" he breathed. "By the gods…"

"Hello, Iolaus," she said, meeting his shocked gaze with a serious look. Then she smiled. "Don't say I've managed to surprise you?"

_Surprised_ didn't begin to describe it. Alani was the last person he would have expected to turn up in Xena's company. Then again, if Alani excelled at anything, it was doing the unexpected. Iolaus smiled a welcome and said, "I should have guessed you'd turn up now. I didn't realise you knew Xena."

"I don't."

Surprised again. "Really?" Iolaus cast a meaningful glance over his shoulder. "Does she know who you are?"

Alani shook her head. "She didn't ask…and I'm used to keeping it to myself."

"You just enjoy being mysterious," he told her, half teasing. "Come on. Let's see to the horse."

"Found yourself a new sidekick?" Gabrielle asked Xena playfully.

"No, I don't think so. She isn't talkative enough." It was enough to make Gabrielle smile and Xena felt relieved. Curiously she asked, "Don't you know Alani, Gabrielle? She told me she was on her way here."

Gabrielle watched the newcomer with her husband. "No. Never seen her before." She shrugged. "Well, Iolaus obviously knows her." Gabrielle didn't sound either curious or concerned.

"She wears a pendant," Xena mentioned. "With the sign of Hecate."

Gabrielle looked interested. "I'll bet hers is an interesting story, then." She looked up at her warrior friend and suddenly laughed aloud. "Oh, come on, Xena. Whoever she is, I'm sure Iolaus will tell me later. Why make a mystery of it?"

"Because she was at Vulcan mountain." As they walked into the house, Xena began to tell Gabrielle what had happened.

***

"…And we all thought it was over. Then I just happened to be looking that way and I saw the archer. I shouted, tried to warn him, but it was too late. Hercules…" Iolaus' voice trailed off and he swallowed, hard. Alani had asked him what happened at Mycenae. It was a hard story for him to tell.

Alani's look was sympathetic. "You think it's somehow your fault, don't you? Because your words changed his mind?"

Iolaus frowned. "Must you read my thoughts like that?"

Alani smiled. "I won't deny that I can, but I didn't that time. Though I think you just answered the question. Iolaus… you mustn't blame yourself. Hercules never did anything he didn't want to do. You might have helped him make the decision, but he would have reached it anyway. Without you."

"I'll never know, will I?" It was a confession and Iolaus looked away.

Gently, Alani said, "The last time I saw Hercules…it was last year at the midsummer festival in Eleusis."

"What were you doing at a festival of Demeter?"

"Looking for Hercules. The point is, when we parted… I knew the next time I saw him would be in the Elysian Fields. I thought it was _my_ death I'd foreseen. I was wrong. Does that make it my fault, because I didn't warn him?"

Iolaus answered at once. "No, of course not. You know how stubborn Hercules was. If he was going to do something, no vague warning, even from you, would have stopped him."

Alani nodded. "Exactly. So why are you blaming yourself? It was fated to happen, Iolaus. Fore-ordained."

"How can you talk like that, Alani? Don't you care at all?" Iolaus' words were hasty: when she met his eyes again he regretted them.

Alani's eyes were full of tears. "I hardly ever saw him, but knowing I never will again isn't easy. I'll miss him, Iolaus."

Both of them looked up at the sound of Xena's voice from the other side of the room: "Stop it, Gabrielle." The words were like a whipcrack.

Gabrielle looked up at Xena. There were tears in her eyes. "Oh, I know I can't change your mind. I know when you're bent on murder nothing's going to stop you. I just can't believe we're going through all this again!"

Xena didn't have to ask what Gabrielle meant. The events of that year long ago were rarely spoken of, but neither of the women needed reminding.

_Xena had travelled to Ch'in to kill Ming Tien, but at the end, when she had understood Lao Ma's message: "The Green Dragon must be made small," she had realised it wasn't necessary. She had destroyed him instead, robbed him of his power. It was only when he called her back…_

_"You probably heard I had Lao Ma executed. I just wanted you to know it's not true."_

_Xena dared to let herself hope. "Really?" she asked._

_Ming Tien's mouth twisted in a cruel smile. "No. I did it myself."_

_Horror didn't describe what Xena felt then. And she told him, "Lao Ma was your mother!"_

_"I knew that the whole time," Ming Tien told her contemptuously. "That's why **I** did the execution: I knew she wouldn't use her powers to hurt her little boy."_

_Xena listened, guilt and fury warring in her heart. She had created this monster. **She** had caused Lao Ma's death._

_Ming Tien drew something from his robe. "This belongs to you." It was Xena's hair brooch: special to both her and to Lao Ma. "Lao Ma's last request was that it was returned to you. Turns out she was just a sentimental fool."_

_Xena's mind was spinning, trying to grasp the message. Lao Ma had been anything but sentimental. Then she remembered. Lao Ma had shown her how such a simple object could be a useful weapon…"If thrown at the right body-part." _

_When she first received Lao Ma's message, Xena had assumed she would have to kill the "Green Dragon". It was just possible that Lao Ma had known she would: when Xena left Ch'in she was still the monster of war Ares created. Lao Ma hadn't known she had changed. This second message, though was not so ambiguous._

_Ming Tien was still speaking. "Remember this? Mother's book of wisdom. It failed her in the end. Her philosophical sense of peace fell apart. She cried like a baby."_

_Only one thing had ever been able to move Lao Ma that way. Not pain, not defeat. Only her son. Lao Ma had realised her son had to die, so she had wept. There was no doubt left in Xena's mind: Ming Tien had to die._

_This wasn't murder. This was execution: the death warrant signed by Lao Ma herself. _

"I still don't believe I was wrong to kill him, Gabrielle. What I did wrong was lying about it to you. But this isn't the same thing at all. Can't you understand that?"

"I know it isn't the same, Xena. In Ch'in you wanted to kill a man. This time you're going after a god."

***

Xena finished the story of her challenge at Vulcan Mountain for the second time. In the silence that followed she stole a glance at Gabrielle: she could see the bard's busy mind filing away the details for a later re-telling. Xena stifled a smile. Some things never changed.

How often had she sat in this room listening to Gabrielle's stories, or offering the tales of her own recent adventures? This place, with its whitewashed walls and beeswax candles scenting the air had became Xena's haven, the closest thing she had to a home of her own. At first sight, this night was just like a hundred others, friends gathered around a table, talking. But it was different. Nothing would ever be quite the same again.

"The Eye," Alani repeated. "That's what he called it?"

"Yeah. Poetic isn't it?"

"Poetic? No. It tells you it will affect anyone on a line of sight. Or maybe any god. I'm not sure."

Xena gave Alani a piercing look. She hadn't thought of that.

"It might also describe its shape, but don't rely on that. The tools of the gods can be anything. Shape and size don't matter."

Xena agreed. "This doesn't look much like a key, either." She lifted the ring of silver and turquoise from the hook at her waist.

Alani looked at it, then glanced at Xena, asking permission with her eyes before she reached out to take it from her. She turned the delicate circle in her hands. "It feels…almost alive," she said quietly.

"May I?" Iolaus took the ring from Alani.

Xena was frowning slightly. "I know how it feels. It worries me. How am I going to fool Ares? If I can feel the power of that thing, he certainly will."

Iolaus handed the ring back to Xena. "He's a god, Xena. I think that's the least of your worries."

"No, I can keep my thoughts to myself, Iolaus. And I can fight Ares if I have to."

Gabrielle caught her gaze and held it, saying nothing. Xena read the plea in her eyes. Neither of them would speak of it again.

Alani was watching the interaction between the two women. "You know," she said suddenly, "the best place to hide is in plain sight."

"What do you mean?" Xena demanded.

"If you really can hide your thoughts from Ares, he might not be that hard to fool. If you'll trust me, I can disguise that key for you."

Xena's look was cynical. _That's the thousand-dinar question, Alani. Do I trust you?_ She glanced at the only person in the room who knew Alani: Iolaus.

Iolaus shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, Alani can be trusted."

Alani smiled at his careful phrasing. "Well, there's a first time for everything," she teased. Iolaus smiled at her briefly.

"Alright," Xena decided. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need your chakram. And I need you to trust me. That's all."

Xena's chakram. The most deadly weapon in her arsenal, and certainly the most unique. She wasn't the first to use one, but no one before her had ever handled one with such skill. No one would again. Alani ran a finger along the razor-sharp edge. The decoration was interesting: the steel inlaid with brass and jewels. Someone had spent a great deal of money on this weapon. She laid the chakram on the table and turned her attention to the "key". Intricately woven silver wire and turquoise jewels. She laid it over the chakram carefully: they were about the same diameter.

"What are you going to do?" Gabrielle asked her.

Alani merely smiled. "Watch." She lifted a hand and touched her pendant briefly, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. What she wanted to do would take concentration. She felt the response of her goddess and let out her breath with relief. Then she reached out to touch the key.

Xena, watching, saw the relief flash across Alani's face and wondered what it signified. She tried to watch what Alani was doing. Afterward, she couldn't recall or describe what she'd seen. Her memory insisted that nothing had happened: everything changed in the time it took her to blink. Common sense told her that wasn't possible.

When Alani stepped away from the table, Xena moved forward and lifted the chakram. It was warm to the touch. Somehow the intricate silver of the key was embedded in the chakram's steel. Xena could see the pattern of the wires, a barely-visible pattern on the polished surface, only because she knew it was there. She gripped the chakram testing its balance. It seemed as perfect as ever.

"Hidden in plain sight," Xena said. She was impressed.

***

The steady rhythm of the sharpening stone against the steel of her sword was soothing. Clouds covered the moon, and the windows of the farmhouse were shuttered, leaving barely enough light to see, but she kept working, long after the edge was razor-sharp. Leipephile didn't even look up when she heard Iolaus coming. In silence he sat beside her, leaning back against the trunk of the tall cedar and looking up into the dark branches. Leipephile kept working.

Eventually, Iolaus broke the silence. "When you were five years old, you tried to climb this tree. Do you remember?"

Leipephile put the sharpening stone aside. "What do you mean, I tried? I _did_ climb it. All the way to the top."

He smiled in the darkness. "And then you couldn't get down."

"I remember. Even Hercules looked tiny from up there. I was so scared."

"Hercules talked you into trying to climb down."

Leipephile could find no safe reply to that. Hercules had been the one who convinced her she was brave enough to try, but it had been Iolaus who promised to catch her if she fell. Even as a frightened child, she had never doubted he would be there if she needed him.

"You were so determined to prove you could do it, you didn't think about the consequences," Iolaus said. Then he shut up, letting her think about that for a while.

It worked. Leipephile shifted slightly, turning to face him. "You'd think I'd have learned my lesson, wouldn't you?"

"No. You're too much like me."

Leipephile chuckled at that. "I always wanted to be like you. That's why I…"

"I know," he interrupted. "You don't have to prove yourself to me, Leipe. I already know what you are."

"And what's that?" she challenged.

"My daughter. Brave. Clever. Determined." He grinned. "And reckless, and foolish at times as well." He was hoping to get another laugh from her, but she was quiet. "The first time I went to war…it was stupid. Two cities fighting over a worthless stretch of land they could easily have shared. Jason was new to his throne. He had to get involved because one of the cities was an ally of Corinth. Herc and I went along for the glory. We were dumb kids. Thought we knew everything. I had to lose two good friends to learn what I tried to teach you years ago." Iolaus wished it wasn't so dark. He wanted to be able to see her. "Leipe…I know that at Mycenae you saw some things… I wish I could have protected you from that, but that's the way the world is. You have to deal with it, and move on. It's not going to be easy, but…"

She lifted the sword up before her eyes. It glittered in the scant light. "I used this at Mycenae," she said quietly. "It's a good sword. I think I'll give it to Xena. She lost hers at Vulcan Mountain."

"I'm sure she'd be grateful," Iolaus answered. Where was she going with this?

"I think I should go away."

The words, quietly but firmly spoken, surprised Iolaus. "I thought you'd had enough of adventure for now."

"You're right, Dad. I need to deal with it. I don't think I can do that here. I was wrong to follow Hercules to Mycenae. I know that. But the reasons I did it haven't changed. I don't belong on a farm."

Iolaus had no wish to admit it, but Leipephile was right. Even so… "I won't have you on the road alone."

"I'm not that stupid, Dad. How far is it to Amazon territory?" Xena's idea, Leipephile's decision.

"About two days, by sea. Longer, overland. Leipe, you don't really know Amazons…"

"And you do? I know Ephiny."

Iolaus shrugged. He knew Amazons a lot better than he was prepared to discuss with his daughter. It was a pointless argument, anyway. Leipephile always got her way around him. "Yeah, I guess you know Ephiny. And she'd make you welcome, for Gabrielle's sake. If…" he added firmly, "…you're certain this is what you want."

"I just know I'm not going to be happy staying here."

Iolaus sighed. "Just…let me be the one to tell your mother, OK?"


	4. Ares

Xena wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but Iolaus and Alani were standing right under her window while they talked. It was only just dawn, and Alani was leaving.

"I want to thank you for putting up with my intrusion into your life." Alani offered her hand to Iolaus, he took it. Then she turned to go.

"Alani," he said.

She turned back.

"It was good to see you again. It's been a long time."

"I wasn't sure I'd be welcome."

"Hey, I know it took a while, but we parted friends, didn't we?" Alani didn't reply, but from the silence Xena guessed she nodded. "Then you're welcome here, friend." There was a longer silence. "Alani…this journey Xena is planning…"

Alani's voice, gentle but firm. "I'm not an oracle, Iolaus."

"Do you know nothing?" he pressed.

Alani said nothing for a long time. Then, "All I can tell you is that there's more going on than you realise. That's not prophecy, it's fact: Iris brought me to go to Vulcan Mountain, _just_ in time to save Xena's life. Someone on Olympus wants her to win."

Xena didn't want to hear more. She gathered her weapons — the chakram didn't feel any different — and left the room. She strode straight through the house and out of the door, intending to walk around to the barn and get her horse saddled. Instead she found herself running into Iolaus as he came back to the farmhouse.

"Xena. Are you leaving, too?"

"As soon as I'm ready. Alani's gone?"

Iolaus nodded. "Yeah. Just now."

Xena looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Who is she, Iolaus? Why did she come here?"

Iolaus was silent for a moment. He leaned back against the wall of the house. "Alani doesn't live in the same world as the rest of us, Xena. She insists she can't see the future, but if you ask her why she does something, she'll say 'because it was supposed to happen' or 'in a few years, you'll know why'."

"Sounds like madness to me."

Iolaus shook his head. "I wish. Alani's one of the sanest people I know."

"So…who is she?" Xena gave a smile suddenly. "She's not old enough to be one of your old girlfriends. So if — "

"Xena!" He interrupted, mock-shocked. "If you're going where it sounds like, shut up." He frowned. "If you were so curious, why didn't you ask her?"

"She wasn't going to tell me. Will you?"

"Yeah," Iolaus sighed. "She was about fourteen when Hercules and I met her. A scared kid who'd just lost the only family she knew. Alani scared the hell out of me, Xena. She had some real power…and she believed in the kind of justice you've been talking about lately. She killed one of the men who murdered her mother with no more emotion than…well, than you used to show.

"But she's turned into a remarkable woman. Learned to channel her power for good. She stayed in touch with Herc… so I would see her from time to time when I was with him. As for who she is…" Iolaus paused, frowning. "I'm sorry, Xena. It's not mine to tell."

***

**Xena:**

It is close.

I've always had a unique relationship with Ares. God of War. My mentor, in so many ways. My father…or so he wanted me to believe. I'll never know for sure. I was one of his most devoted worshippers. In his name, and for my own vengeance, I slaughtered thousands.

Those memories are painful, now.

It took years for my former devotion to him to become hate. I don't think I began to hate him until he sided with Dahak against the Olympian gods. Against the whole world. Such a cowardly act from a god who demanded courage above all from his followers. Even then, I tried to overcome my hate. If I learned nothing else from Dahak, I learned that hate can only consume and destroy. The strength it seems to offer is illusion at best.

I tell myself that it is not for hate's sake I seek Ares now.

Today I remember a night, long ago. We were following Callisto, and Gabrielle asked how I could have "made" her. Gabrielle. Whatever she thought she knew of my past, she was still innocent of what I had been, then. I remember so clearly the passion in her voice as she spoke, forcing me to make a promise impossible to keep. Don't become a monster. Don't seek revenge. I kept expecting her to remind me of that promise, these past few days. She hasn't mentioned it at all. Would it have made a difference, I wonder?

Ares. He calls himself god of war, but it's death, and blood that he loves. I understand that. I used to be like him. The needless slaughter of innocent people; all of the destruction and misery my army encountered as we followed Darius to Mycenae…these things would have excited me. But I saw what I'd become, and I was able to change. Ares never will. When I heard Ares murdered Hercules it was simply the last straw. He is out of control. I don't know what the other gods were thinking to let it go this far. It has to end.

Ares must be stopped. Now.

***

Xena had always intended to do this alone. Iolaus — _Damn the man for knowing her so well!_ — had manipulated her into letting him tag along. At least, that was how it looked to Xena. The morning she left the farm, he had talked to her about Leipephile: told her about the trouble the girl was having coming to terms with what happened to her at Mycenae. Xena already knew it, and had told him so. When Iolaus mentioned Leipe's plan to join the Amazons — at least for a time — Xena had agreed it was a good idea. Then realised she had fallen into the trap.

Iolaus wouldn't let Leipephile travel all that way alone. Xena couldn't offer to take her there without giving up her plans for Ares. Caught by the only snare Xena couldn't avoid: her love for the girl she had taught and trained, Xena reluctantly agreed that Iolaus and Leipephile could travel with her as far as Pella. She knew when she agreed that wouldn't be the end of it.

Late one night on their journey, Xena found herself discussing her plans with Iolaus. He had been Hercules' companion, after all, and had fought Ares a time or two himself. It was Iolaus who pointed out that she would need to attract Ares' attention.

"You could just smash the temple up. That always worked pretty well for Hercules."

Xena gave a thin smile. "I don't think that's a good idea, Iolaus. I have to talk to him, not fight him." She saw Iolaus frown. "If Ares even suspects what I'm doing I'll never get away with it. I have to keep him guessing until I find what I'm looking for. The only way I can do that is to talk."

"Then…what are you going to do?"

An evil-looking smile. Thoughtfully, she said, "I do have one advantage over Hercules. Ares _likes_ me."

Iolaus' frown deepened. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that."

Even when they reached Pella, where they should have parted company, Iolaus insisted on going with her.

"You're my friend, Xena. I promise not to interfere. But I won't abandon you. Not now."

Anyone else she would have forced to leave. She wanted to force Iolaus to stay away, because if he came along, so would Leipephile. But Xena realised he felt responsible: he had given her the clue that began this. And he was still grieving for his best friend. He needed to see this through to the end.

Reluctantly, against her better judgement, Xena allowed Iolaus to go with her. "I go into that temple alone. Understand? Whatever happens after that, you stay away."

***

Did she really have Ares' blood in her veins? It was a question Xena had tried for twenty years not to ask, ever since her encounter with the Furies made her suspect it was possible. Now she wished she knew the answer. If Ares could reach into her mind and see what she planned, she was lost. If Ares decided she should die, she was lost. Her only chance was to convince him she was worth something alive.

From that realisation, Xena conceived her most daring, most dangerous plan.

The chakram at her side was a familiar weight. She resisted the urge to touch it as she walked toward the temple. The sword, which Xena fervently hoped she wouldn't need, was held firmly in the sheath across her back. She looked up at the sign of Ares above the temple doors. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of everything except what she had to do.

Weapons lined the walls. She took note of them instinctively. The temple appeared empty, but Xena knew better. She had always been able to sense Ares' presence. He was here, now. The chakram was almost throbbing with power. It seemed impossible the god would fail to sense it. Xena felt it as a gentle, but insistent pulling in a certain direction…that told her where the weapon she sought was located. She walked where it drew her.

"Xena. What an unexpected pleasure."

Xena turned, slowly, to face the god of war. It took all the concentration she had too keep her expression neutral at the sight of him. He had appeared lounging on the throne in the centre of the room. "Ares," she said levelly.

"What are you doing here, Xena?"

"I came to talk." Xena took a step toward him, then another. "Your army really messed up at Mycenae, didn't they?" She kept her tone neutral. Keep him guessing. "You should have waited for me, Ares."

He rose from his throne, spreading his hands with a resigned look. "This is about Hercules, isn't it?" he asked in a bored voice.

"Hercules?" she repeated, keeping her own voice low to hide her feelings. "Now, why would you think I'd care about that?" She approached him slowly, her eyes never leaving his. "Oh, I'll admit, when I first heard about it, I was pretty angry with you. But I got over that, and I realised something. What's been missing from my life all these years." She was standing close to him, now, almost touching him.

"And what would that be?" he asked her.

She had definitely caught his interest. "Power," she said.

"Go on…"

"I like to be on the winning side. You're about to achieve what you've always wanted…a world of order, where force of arms keeps the peace and one great warrior rules." His words, spoken to her long ago. "I'd like to be that warrior."

Ares walked around her, slowly, speculatively. His hand traced a line down her arm. "My dear Xena…it's been so long. Don't you think it might be too long?"

His hand snaked around her waist. She covered his hand with her own before he could touch the chakram. Trying to make the gesture seem casual, she stepped just a little closer to him, moving his hand away from her body, safely away from the chakram. "I take it we have a deal?"

"I already have an excellent commander for my army." Ares leaned closer to her.

His words gave her the perfect excuse to avoid his attempt to kiss her; she didn't think she could have maintained the act through that. She moved gracefully out of his embrace and put a few paces between them. She gave a contemptuous smile. "I know. Darius. Ares, he couldn't conquer an empty field." As the dark god moved closer to her, she backed away, leading him further into the temple. _Focus, Xena. Where's the Eye?_ She had to be close. "Think about it, Ares. You and me. I'll show you war. Remember Cirra? Or Corinth? Messinia?"

"Ah, Xena, you are tempting. But after all these years, you can't blame me for being suspicious. Tell me, what caused this sudden change of heart?"

She decided to tell him: Ares was master of deception, he wouldn't be expecting honesty. "You have something I want, Ares. I'll do whatever I have to in order to get it." _And you're about to tell me exactly where it is, you bastard._

"And what would that be?"

"The Eye of Hephaestus." She watched his eyes as she said the words, and smiled.

***

"What do you think she's doing in there?"

Iolaus took his eyes off the temple doors long enough to look at his nervously pacing daughter. "I don't know, Leipe."

"Is Gabrielle right, Dad? Is Xena going to die?"

The blunt question, voiced by Leipephile, had been on his mind, too. He believed Xena could do it. But what if she couldn't? If she died, too, he was never going to forgive himself. How could he ever face Gabrielle again? Unlike Xena, it wasn't revenge Iolaus sought. Not even couched in terms of justice. He had spent most of his life fighting back to back with Hercules: a man who understood real justice. They had fought for a better world, and Iolaus knew they had created it. He had once been given a glimpse of the world as it might have been without Hercules. After that, he had never again questioned the effectiveness of what they did together. Even if they couldn't help everyone, they did enough.

At Mycenae, too, Hercules had been fighting for a better world. Against every instinct, he had made the decision to stay and fight, because Ares' drive for power had to be stopped. And at that moment, in that place, Hercules was the only one who could do it. But there was another warrior who knew Ares. Someone else who had fought him many times, and had won before. That was Xena.

"Dad?"

Iolaus realised he'd been silent for too long. Leipephile came and sat beside him, her gaze, like his, fixed on the temple doors.

"Leipe…I don't know. I hope she'll win. But I don't know."

The calm of the day was shattered by the sound of Xena's warcry. Iolaus caught his breath. It had begun.

***

Xena knew he was toying with her. Sparks flew as their swords clashed again. The force of the impact numbed her arm to the shoulder. She swung again, with all her strength and again the blow was blocked. She knew she couldn't hurt him. He was a god. Immortal. The knowledge didn't stop her trying, though. It was a chance to let the anger out, finally. Ares. Cowardly murdering bastard. She struck again.

Ares' sword never came close to her. He wasn't even trying to hurt her: just having a little fun with the fight. Knowing that increased her rage. The anger was all Xena had left. She allowed it to rule her, for now. Another arm-numbing clash of weapons. Ares raised his hand. A casually thrown bolt of power lifted Xena off her feet and threw her into the wall.

_You seek revenge. You seek to conquer._

She hit the wall with such force that the stones began to crumble. Xena lay still for a moment, catching her breath, dealing with the pain. No time for this. She sprang to her feet, gripping her sword in both hands. Ares was ready for her. An over-arm swing toward her head she blocked instinctively, ducking out of the way as she raised her sword.

Ares was laughing. "You can't win, Xena. You can't defeat the God of War."

Anger. Black and red in her veins. Pain of grief worse than the pain of any wound. She had to win. There was no other way. She struck again, her blade slicing toward his legs.

_To conquer others is to have power. To conquer yourself…_

Ares leapt over her slicing blow. He kicked out with both feet, hitting her squarely in the stomach. Xena found herself flying again. The blow made her double over…somehow she turned it into a somersault, coming to land with his throne between them. Automatically, her hand went to her chakram.

The instant her hand touched it she jerked away. The knowledge imprinted suddenly in her mind: the Eye was beneath her. Directly below the temple. I've killed a god before. I can do it again.

_As a villain you were awesome. As a hero, you are a sentimental fool._

Xena's warcry was a scream of rage. Her attack on Ares was renewed. Blow after blow, all parried. But now it was she driving him back. Ares made her. He gave her everything she had: her skills, her strength, her focus. Now it was all turned against him. Her fury gave her strength to match his godly powers.

"Ah, Xena! How long I've waited to see that fire in your eyes!" Ares taunted her as he parried each furious blow. Still she drove him back.

"I'm in your blood, Xena. We're just the same inside. All your hate. Your anger." Ares' sword locked with hers and for a moment they were both still. She stared into his black eyes, naked hatred burning from her gaze. "…Your desire…" Ares purred.

She wrenched her sword back. She let out a scream of rage. Her sword sliced through the air, too fast for even Ares to block it. Straight through his body where the god's black heart should have been. Their eyes met again. With satisfaction she saw pain in his. She yanked the blade free.

Everything was still. Ares laughed, looking down at the instantly closing wound in his chest. "Not bad, Xena."

_I can't stand to think of you dying for revenge._

Clash. The god was through with games now. A succession of blows rained down on her. Strength and speed that could only come from a god. All Xena could do was block. And that was more than most mortals could have done. Slowly, inexorably, she was driven back.

A vicious twist of his sword sent her weapon flying from her hand. A blow to her chest threw her to the ground. Helplessly, she felt herself skid across the floor until she hit the wall again. Weapons lining the walls above her.

Ares vanished. To re-appear standing over her, sword raised. "You hate me now, don't you, Xena? That's good. That's my warrior princess. Too bad it's too late."

Too late. But it had always been too late. What had made her think she could defeat a god? The flood of grief in her heart? The inexorable tide of her anger? Or simply her own foolish pride. She couldn't win. Xena looked up at the sword poised above her heart, and accepted death.

_I can't let you die if there's anything I can do to stop it._

Xena met the eyes of the god of war. "No, Ares," she said defiantly. "I don't hate you. I pity you. All you know is murder and blood. You can beat me, Ares. You can even kill me. But you can never, ever defeat me." She was going to die. "It ends now. Here."

_Stop it, Xena. Stop willing. Stop desiring._

A scream of inarticulate rage came from the war god. The sword began to descend. Xena rolled out of the way. Found her feet. Grabbed a shining shield from the wall.

"Goodbye, Xena." Ares raised his hand and she saw the energy building up.

_Stop hating._

She stopped.

The crackling bolt of energy passed between them. Xena allowed the shield to drop to the floor. Ares' lightning bolt hit her…and dissipated harmlessly. Xena stared at Ares calmly.

He tried again. This time it was a ball of fire, all the power of his godhood behind it. Xena raised a hand and the fireball was deflected, bringing down half of the temple wall behind him.

Xena was mortal, Ares a god. She could not possibly defeat him. But now she understood. Like all the great mysteries, it was so simple, so obvious, she had never thought of it. She didn't have to _win_. Ares' driving need was for victory, for domination. All Xena had to do was deny him that. To become his equal. Stalemate.

In that quiet core inside that she had found only a few times in her life, and would never find again, Xena finally understood that last mystery: that she could win by not winning. It did not come to mind in words, there was no time for that. It was a single instant of blinding knowledge. A single instant with no room for vengeance, for hatred, for grief…only that quiet and stillness.

Xena's shield, abandoned on the ground beside her, suddenly flew at Ares, arcing through the air like a chakram. It slammed into his midriff, lifting him into the air. The floor of the temple collapsed. The path of the shield carried the god down through the hole. The look of shocked surprise on his face would live in her memory for eternity.

Xena moved toward the hole and leapt in. She somersaulted in the air, drawing her chakram as she fell. She landed lightly on her feet, like a cat. She watched as Ares got to his feet. Behind him, a great eye-shaped jewel began to glow red.

"Goodbye, Ares." Xena threw the chakram.

The god's eyes followed its path. A flash of sparks as it hit a pillar. A distinctive clang as it ricocheted off a wall. A sound, hardly heard, as it arced through the air toward the great glowing jewel.

"Nooooooo!" Ares screamed.

The chakram hit the jewel. The chakram shattered. The energy released by that contact filled the tiny crypt with light. Xena ducked her head, covering her eyes. Beams of energy spewed out from the jewel. Both Xena and Ares were thrown backward.

Xena saw Ares writhing in a beam of red light. His head was thrown back, the chords in his neck standing out. His back arched, his arms spread out almost in supplication. An animalistic scream of pure agony was torn from his throat.

Xena felt nothing. No hate. No satisfaction. Nothing.

***

Outside the temple, the very air shook with the echoing scream of the god. The sound brought Iolaus to his feet. He turned toward the temple, his heart pounding, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

***

Xena was in agony. Her entire universe was pain. Her body convulsed within the power she had released.

A series of images fluttered through her mind: her entire life in a few seconds of memories:

…Standing in a field watching her father, Atrius, riding toward her … the death of Lyceus as they fought for Amphipolis … Caesar: "Break her legs." … M'lila's death, shot by an arrow meant for Xena … watching Cirra burn … Her seduction of Iolaus: "You do this for all your warriors?" and her reply, "Only the special ones." … Hercules … "You changed my life, taught me how to live." … Gabrielle: "You have got to take me with you." … Callisto … "You understand hatred, but you've never given into it." … Britannia, and the birth of Hope … Another death, her son, tearing her soul to pieces … "You lied to me." … Confronting Caesar: "…between us, Xena, it's hatred, war and conflict. And it's love." … And through it all, Ares was there. A constant presence in her life whether she knew it or not, guiding her deeper into hatred, manipulating her destiny …

…Travelling back from Rome with Gabrielle: "How many times am I going to hurt you?" … Gabrielle's sacrifice of her own life when Hope finally died … the death of Callisto … fighting the shadows of her dark past with Hercules … once again, it was Gabrielle who paid the price … "I can't do this any more." … Leading an army again, this time trying to fight for good … Hercules: "I don't want us to be on opposite sides again … Gabrielle's tale of Mycenae … the raging flood of grief in her heart … "Sometimes the heart needs to be soft." …

And it was over.

***

The ground was shaking. Leipephile tried to run and fell, hard to the ground. Iolaus staggered to where his daughter lay and they clung to each other. The noise was a roar of grinding earth and rock. It was impossible to stand.

And then it stopped. A second's silence, then a new sound.

The temple walls crumbled. With an echoing crash the whole temple collapsed. A cloud of dust rose, slowly, mockingly.

Leipephile screamed. "Xena!"

***

_Nothing is soft as water. Yet who can withstand the raging flood?_

***

In the silence that followed the collapse of the temple, Xena rose slowly and began to climb. Her mind was numb, her actions automatic. She had gone only a few steps when the gleam of silver caught her eye. Hardly knowing why, she lifted the shining object in her hand and went on climbing. There was a tiny beam of sunlight ahead. She moved toward it.

It took almost an hour. Each fallen stone had to be moved carefully or the whole lot would come down on her. With leaden steps she moved toward the sunlight. When she emerged, finally into the light, she turned around and looked at the ruined temple. It would never rise again.

Xena sat on a stone and stared at the object she'd brought from the temple. It was her chakram. Well, half of it. The other half was somewhere in there, buried under the rock. The shattered chakram seemed to reflect her shattered soul. Ares was gone, trapped for eternity, or until she chose to free him. But only now, when it was over, did Xena understand the cost. She could never leave this place. Part of her would remain here, trapped with him.

Xena never knew how long she sat there, staring at the shattered chakram in her hand. After an endless time, she felt a silent hand on her shoulder. She turned her head, and looked up into the grave blue eyes of her friend.

"Xena, it's over. Let's get away from here."

With an effort, she stood. Xena and Iolaus walked away from the temple together.


	5. Never-Ending Journey

**Xena:**

The battle is over. I lost.

Ares was right. He told me years ago that he was my destiny. Ares created my destiny. He sent Cortese to raze Amphipolis, forcing me to become a warrior. He showed me how to fight, and made me just like him. How proud I must have made him! He followed me to Caesar's cross. He accepted my vow of vengeance and followed me to Ch'in. No wonder Lao Ma failed to save me.

No…that's unfair. She did save me. It just took a lot longer than she hoped.

When Hercules showed me a better way to live, Ares was there, too. He wouldn't allow me to find my own destiny. Was it Ares who bound my destiny to his? Or was it some prank of the Fates?

Ares was right. In this life there is no redemption for me. I can never be free of the past. The monster he created in me was too strong. And now, by my own hand, Ares is my destiny for eternity.

No one told me the true power of the Eye of Hephaestus. Had I known, would I have done anything differently? I don't think so. There's an irony in what imprisons Ares that I would have appreciated in my anger.

The irony is this: the Eye cannot hold him there. He is a god. The Eye holds his spirit, his godhood, not his body. If Ares has the courage, he can walk out of that temple at any time. But he'll leave as a mortal, vulnerable and weak. I know he will never take that risk. Ares is trapped by his own cowardice. He would rather wait, hoping that someday, someone will free him and he can leave there as a god again.

My spirit is trapped there with his. What left that place is but a shell, my mind, my memories, nothing more. One day, perhaps soon, I will die. I have already lived longer than anyone would have predicted. What will happen to me after death? I do not know. I suspect I'll never cross the Styx into Hades, never see the Elysian fields. Perhaps I'll know the oblivion that Callisto sought. Another irony.

The monster Ares created was his undoing. His fire is gone from the world. Fire…the gift of Prometheus to mankind. Properly controlled, fire is essential to life. Without it, no mortal would survive. But allowed to burn unchecked, fire brings only destruction and death. That is why Ares had to be chained. The fires of war would one day have destroyed the world.

I have no regrets.

The raging flood of vengeance brought me to this. Whatever is left to me I accept.

I live. I wait. I remember.

And, finally, I can grieve.

***

**Leipephile:**

The age of heroes is over.

The bards keep the tales alive. The voyage of the Argonauts, the Labours of Hercules, great deeds done during the siege of Troy. But there are no new tales, and the great men and women who performed those deeds are gone. Once I wanted to be one of them. Now I know better. I have done my share of good in this world, but it takes more than great deeds to make a hero.

The age of heroes is over.

Hercules. Dead at the scene of his greatest triumph. Some bards say he became a god and joined his father, Zeus on Mount Olympus. A tale of hope. When I hear it told that way, I do not correct them.

Iolaus. Last of the Argonauts, companion and closest friend of Hercules. He has been dead twenty years, and I still miss him. His stories were my greatest inspiration when I was a child. Iolaus was a true hero, a true friend. His name lives on wherever the old tales are told, forever linked with that of his friend. And I will never forget him.

Xena. She was greater than all of them, in some ways. Her courage truly did change the world. Xena defeated the evil of Dahak, she destroyed the evil goddess Callisto. And she defeated Ares. Yet in a few generations, no one will remember her. It was her wish that people forget: Xena said that if men knew her story, knew what really happened in the temple at Pella, someone might be able to free Ares from his tomb. She is right. Gabrielle's tales will be preserved, but on parchment in a secret place, not in the mouths of bards. Truly, Xena's tale has no ending. In many ways, I think she died in Ares' temple, all those years ago. No one will ever know what she sacrificed to imprison the god of war there. Xena would never speak of it, and she was never quite the same after that day.

Gabrielle. Her heroism was of a different kind. Through her stories she created a legend, and a legacy that will live on. She taught me what a hero is: not a great warrior, but someone, anyone, who is willing to do what they can to serve the greater good. For Xena, that meant fighting for good. For Hercules and Iolaus, it meant much more. For Gabrielle, in the end, it meant _not_ fighting.

Gabrielle ensured that the legacy of these heroes was an age of peace. Hercules and Xena had defeated the god of war. During the years I lived with the Amazons, Gabrielle made certain their legacy would endure. She did not do it alone, but it was her words that inspired the many, many people who came together in her name. For forty years, Greece has known peace. There have been warlords, but they have never lasted, never succeeded in conquest. Enemies from abroad have fallen before the wars could even get started. I could even believe that the gods have been helping us.

I am old, now, and not long for this world. I have worked hard to maintain the legacy of my parents, but now I must pass that duty to others. Last year I returned to Ares' temple. It is mostly rubble now, overgrown with weeds. Somewhere beneath those ruined stones, the God of War sleeps. May he sleep forever. No one will disturb his slumber. The temple doors are sealed, and many obstacles stand in the path of anyone foolish enough to intrude.

It is written that only Xena can free him. Gods grant that be true.

The age of heroes is over.

They live in tales, and in memory. Tonight, I wonder, for how much longer? The things we fought for will live on. But if no one remembers the fight, how long will it be before it all begins again?

***

**Ares:**

The centuries pass slowly in my tomb.

I have watched the gods of Olympus fall, replaced by newer, invented gods. Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite…all of them are powerless now, remembered only as myth. Their temples are dust and no one sacrifices to them any more.

I wonder if Xena realised she was doing me a favour when she imprisoned me here. I am still a god and this world still knows War. My powers are waiting, just beyond my reach, for me to reclaim them. And when I do, there will be no other gods to prevent me claiming the world. My way.

From my barren tomb I have watched great leaders come and go. For a time, I turned my focus toward Rome. Caesar after Caesar: generals worthy of my favour. What delicious slaughter I have seen through their eyes! Eventually, as it had to, their empire became decadent and crumbled into dust. An age of chaos dawned. In the south the races of men slaughtered each other in the names of false gods and prophets. To the north men fought for land, and others slaughtered for power, and for fun. It was beautiful to watch.

I was almost freed in those years, when the slaughter passed over the place where I lie. Each warrior's lust for the kill, each agonised death, each drop of blood spilled upon the ground added to my power and I almost broke free.

Almost. Still I lie here. Entombed by my warrior princess.

The memory of her magnificence is blinding now. The things we could have achieved together! The battles we could have fought!

Ah, Xena, Xena, why did you fight me? Why deny the destiny for which you were born? I would have given you the world, Xena. The whole world.

Centuries have passed.

How long have I slept? There has been a time of peace, but these mortals cannot maintain it. Ah, how this world has changed! Their weapons are more deadly than ever, and they will become even more so. And their leaders! Ah, what glorious slaughter in the name of the greater good! I watch with interest as a new leader rises in a nation embittered by defeat. He has great potential. This man will start a war that will encompass the entire world.

I watch. I wait. Soon I shall be free. And this world will tremble before the force of my name.

I am Ares, God of War.

***

**Epilogue: Macedonia, 1942**

The crack of a gunshot broke the silence of the tomb, echoing through chambers undisturbed for thousands of years, disturbing the restless sleep of the god. He stirred, and the torches burst into life once more, ready for him to awaken.

Voices. Unfamiliar, unknown.

"What did I tell you? This place is cursed!" A man's voice, bravado masking fear.

"There are no curses," a woman's voice argued. "This was obviously a case of dormant embers being hit by oxygen, resulting in spontaneous combustion."

The listening god smiled to himself. A sceptic. This just might be fun.

"Embers don't lie dormant for thousands of years," the man pointed out. He seemed to have a talent for stating the obvious. "It's obviously some sort of curse."

_A curse, little man?_ Ares thought to himself, as the nervous intruder continued to babble. _You have **no** idea._ There was a third person with them, a woman, and there was something familiar about her presence…what was it? She was as frightened as the man, her mind was weak, yet there was something…

The sound of a slap. "Pull yourself together, man!" the woman snapped.

And then a new voice, stern, threatening. "Enough games. I want the scrolls and the chakram. Now."

Three more intruders had entered the chamber. Two of them were armed, but…Ares frowned in disgust. They weren't warriors. They weren't even soldiers, just lackeys. Cowardice filled their hearts. He examined the third man…no potential there, either. He was a thief, motivated by greed, without even the courage to fight his own battles. What had become of humanity?

But what had the man said? The _chakram_! Then it was here, at last! The thief held part of it, that oddly familiar woman carried the other half. Xena! That was why she was so familiar! She was descended from Xena! And she was about to refuse to hand over the chakram.

Ares exerted his will, and shoved the woman forward. She stumbled, pulled forward now toward the thief. The two halves of the chakram touched… and merged. The sudden bolt of energy released by their merging illuminated the chamber briefly.

"Mel!" The first woman called out in fearful concern.

Ares had other things on his mind, however. As the key came together for the first time in over two thousand years, the lock, the Eye of Hephaestus, began to respond. Feeling some of his power come back to him at last, Ares reached up and opened the door that had kept him imprisoned. He sat up, and looked around him. "Ah, that feels good!"

He rose out of the tomb and stared at them. "I've been expecting you," he told their shocked faces. "Welcome! To the prison that has held me for centuries." _Mortals!_ They had no idea who he was.

The thief appeared to recover his senses a little at that. He scrambled clumsily to his feet. "Excuse me, my good fellow. I think you'll find this tomb is _mine_."

_My good fellow?_ Just who did this insolent dog think he was? _Well, if he wants this tomb, he can have it._ Ares smiled evilly. "Go ahead," he said smoothly, spreading his arms in mock-surrender. "Take your best shot."

The thief puffed up with arrogance. He spoke two words to the lackeys at his side. "Eliminate him."

Both lackeys raised their weapons. Ares let them fire, just long enough to get the hang of how these new weapons worked. With a gesture, he froze both guns. With another gesture, he turned the two lackeys toward each other. Oh, this was too easy! Ares released their weapons. Both men died. _Wonderful! What incredible weapons they have in this world!_

The thief was a little less arrogant now. "Who are you?" he asked Ares.

Enjoying himself, now, Ares told him: "I'm the last sight you'll ever see." He created a dagger on the spot and threw it at the thief. That worked well, so he threw another. And another.

The thief looked down at his chest, muttered "My god…" and died.

_You got **that** right._ Ares turned his gaze onto the others. The man rose slowly, taking what Ares assumed was supposed to be a warrior's stance. "Fear not, ladies. _I_ will not go down without a fight."

Ares stared at him calmly. The man was terrified. All bravado.

"Did I not tell you that I was captain of the boxing team in my division?"

And a liar, to boot. His mind was as transparent as his fake courage. Ares took a quick peek and learned everything he needed to know. "Oh, please." Ares sneered. "Does a brush salesman from New Jersey think he can defeat the god of war?"

"Ares," the blonde woman said grimly. She was obviously the brains of this trio. It was good to know that after two thousand years they still knew his name. Then she looked up at the man. "Brush salesman? How did you find out about the scrolls?"

Oh, this was too rare! Now Ares recognised who they were. "My guess," he interjected, "from a family tradition passed down from ancient times."

"You're related to _Xena_?" the blonde said to the man.

"No." Ares laughed. _That_ image was a good one. "Not to Xena." The pathetic man was of Joxer's line. Though how that sorry excuse for a man had ever managed to reproduce was a mystery.

But enough of the small talk. "For thousands of years my spirit has been trapped in this tomb waiting for someone to claim the chakram and make it whole. Now I am flesh again."

"What do you want from us?" the woman asked.

"A simple favour. It is written that only a descendant of Xena can release me back into the world." _Written by her bard, Gabrielle, that only the bitch who trapped me here can let me out again._ "I want out."

"I'm a descendant of Xena," the blonde realised, proudly. Defiantly she said, "You can forget it, Ares. The world doesn't need any more of you."

"Silly girl," Ares chuckled at her mistake. "I don't need _you_."

Ares shoved the blonde out of his way as he moved to stand over the one he did need: the dark-haired woman lying on the ground. The descendant of Xena. "It's time, Melinda." The god reached into her mind with a subtle thread of his will. "Release me," he ordered. His voice was seductive, undeniable. "I'll regain all my powers. My godhood. If the world thinks it knows death and destruction now, wait 'til they get a load of me!" He was exultant. This woman's mind was putty in his hands. She would release him, and then…nothing could stop him.

The woman rose slowly, lifting a sword that lay — had lain for centuries — on the ground nearby. She twirled the sword in her hand as she turned to face him, the expression on her face, in those determined blue eyes, very familiar to him. Holding the hilt in both hands, she raised the sword before her eyes.

And in that moment, Ares felt his hold on her mind melt away.

"Think again, Ares," Xena said.

**~ The End ~**


End file.
